Consumer durables gains 31% on BSE

Consumer Durable stocks have been the biggest gainers in the recent rally on the bourses. The BSE Consumer Durable (CD) index has gained 30.77 per cent since October 28, when the Sensex hit its low of 7686 following the thousand point fall. During the same period, the BSE Sensex gained 12.54 per cent or 964 points.

But behind the fantastic performance of the CD Index is the dramatic surge in one stock; Titan Industries. Titan alone accounted for 48.67 per cent of the CD Index's weightage based on on Thursday's prices. And since October the stock has gained a phenomenal 54 per cent. The stock ended up 3.39 per cent at Rs 612 on Thursday on volumes of 19 lakh shares.

The stock has been seeing a surge in buying interest thanks to a turnaround in performance. Apart from the steady growth in watch sales and a healthier balance-sheet, the jewellary business is growing at a faster pace and is likely to boost both topline and bottomline significantly over in the coming years, according to analysts.

In the past quarter, the company posted a net profit of Rs 20 crore, 41 per cent more than in the same quarter previous year. In the trailing four quarters, the company's net has risen by 53 per cent to Rs 76 crore.

"Titan has a good growth story and the fact that there are not too many good quality consumer plays makes it even more interesting. The performance of the BSE CD index is not really a reflection of the performance the consumer durable sector as a whole" said an analyst with a domestic broking firm.

Another small stock in the index, Su-Raj Diamonds gained 26.53 per cent since October end. Su-Raj Diamond which is into both gold and diamond jewellery business has also posted decent numbers last quarter with net profits rising 28 per cent.

Apart from the Titan, among the seven stocks which constitute the BSE CD index are air-conditioner maker Blue Star and white goods and electronic company Videocon International. The two stocks has a weightage of 17.46 per cent and 14.93 per cent respectively.

Videocon has also been on a roll gaining about 22.92 per cent during the period, while Blue Star's performance has been lackluster. The other four stocks in the CD index, MIRC Electronics, Samtel and Whirlpool have been underperformers in the recent rally.