Market crash: Stocks that weathered the storm

As share prices tumbled across global markets, very few companies withstood the sell-off . While Nifty declined 2.26 percent, there were a few scrips that managed to weather the financial storm. Firstpost analysed Nifty-50 companies and we picked up a few stocks (refer table) that did not fall as steeply as their counterparts in the index.

Here is the list :

• Siemens, a Rs 30,349-crore infrastructure and capital goods company, is well poised to benefit from India’s growth across the spectrum.

• Defensive sectors like pharma and FMCG also weathered the storm. Many investors prefer cash-rich companies like Sun Pharma, which is sitting on a cash pile of Rs 2,193 crore. FMCG big-wig Hindustan Unilever, was also one of the scripts that did not fall steeply. It is expected to benefit from the recent correction in palm oil prices.

• HDFC Bank scrip declined by a meagre 0.7 percent. Its position as one of India’s most efficient banks certainly goes in its favour. Its net interest margins stood at 4.2 percent.

•Bharti Airtel’s scrip fell only 1.95 percent vis-vis Nifty’s fall of 2.26 percent. A sectoral analyst believes that the company is poised for good revenue growth as it could benefit from the 3G rollout. Also an increase in subscriber base and an improvement in the African market augurs well for the company.

•TCS -one of India’s leading IT software exporter is expected to benefit from the strong demand environment for IT Outsourcing services.

•Cipla gained 0.55 percent. Many investors are extremely bullish on the pharmaceutical space as was evident from its ability to weather the market pressure.