Positive on ITC, says UBS Securities

Suresh Mahadevan of UBS Securities says they are still positive on ITC but underweight on FMCG sector.

Mahadevan told CNBC-TV18, “We recently upgraded Hindustan Unilever (HUL) after it fell to around Rs 440 levels and had a neutral before that. We are still positive on ITC. The reason we are underweight consumption is because a) the stocks have done very well, b) we are also not very negative on the market.”
“The data points are not encouraging especially around gross domestic product (GDP) growth and index of industrial production (IIP). But we don't have a negative view and given our positive view on the market, given how expensive consumption stocks are, we have an underweight though we have ITC in our portfolio; we end up being underweight on the sector as such,” Mahadeven added.