When mkt crashes, defensives like HUL, Nestle, Hero stand tall

livemint.com:

Britannia Industries Ltd, Hero Motocorp Ltd, and Tata Consumer Products Ltd not just stayed afloat but settled about 2-6% higher.This is in contrast to Shriram Finance Ltd, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro, BPCL, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports Special Economic Zone stocks that crashed 10-21%. What spooked investors was a negative surprise in India’s general elections results, with the ruling NDA set to return albeit with a less than expected majority.

That said, the broad direction of the economy is unlikely to change, said market experts.“So, FMCG and auto names are places for institutional investors to hide in a collapsing market," said Bino Pathiparampil, head of research, Elara Capital. He believes, “There could also be an expectation of a more populist policy framework from the government, given the mandate, which can boost private consumption."Even UBS Securities said in 4 June note, “While political stability should help ensure continuity in policy agenda, we see risk of populist bias in the third term (targeted towards lower income strata) and change in economic policy dynamics with tougher reforms getting pushed further out."The brokerage said that India’s consumption is recovering in a K-shaped pattern, with demand for luxury and affluent items looking strong and entry-level and mass-market goods remaining relatively flat after the pandemic.