HUL, ITC lift Sensex by over 97 points to end at 19,948.73

Bolstered by a sharp rise in FMCG giants HUL and ITC, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex today recovered almost half of the previous day's losses, gaining 97.5 points to 19,948.73, even as the government liberalised FDI norms in various sectors.
Mixed-to-weak global trends ahead of the US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's semi-annual testimony and earnings from heavyweights such as Bank of America Corp. And Intel Corp. Weighed on the market.
The 30-share Sensex opened higher and climbed to 19,983.22 before dropping to a low of 19,778.54 on the back of a reversal in the European market. The index later recovered on buying in blue-chip counters to end at 19,948.73, a rise of 97.5 points, or 0.49 per cent.

The 50-share CNX Nifty index of the NSE rose 18.05 points, or 0.30 per cent, to 5,973.30.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) led gains on the Sensex, rising 9.86 per cent, while ITC firmed up by 2.28 per cent. Both stocks climbed to 52-week highs in intraday trade.
"HUL shot up over 9 per cent on account of FTSE rebalancing," said Amar Ambani, head of research at India Infoline. "From July 22, its float increases to 33 per cent from 24 per cent in FTSE's All-World and All Emerging indices. Meanwhile, the company has hiked prices of some of its best selling products in the soap category by up to 15 per cent."

Telecom stocks erased their initial gains and ended with losses of as much as 4.3 per cent after the government allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the sector.
Banking, auto and realty stocks, which are sensitive to interest rates, continued to be at the receiving end after the Reserve Bank's measures to tighten liquidity in the banking system and support the rupee.
Shares of HDFC Bank, which today posted a 30 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 1,843.86 crore in the first quarter, declined 2.36 per cent.