Thank you for not smoking: ITC to be watched out today

ITC, one of the largest manufacturers of cigarettes and also consumer products including eatables, will remain in focus on Wednesday even as country's Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley will rise to table the crucial Budget document. Wait to watch noticeable movement in ITC stock, with the possibility of an increase in excise duties on cigarettes, which may not be a very happy news for the smokers and also for ITC share-holders. 

During the last five years as we notice, there has been a 125% cumulative hike in the duties on sticks. ITC has duly offset the hikes by introducing periodic price hikes, post a excise duty hike. But its volumes have dropped during the last five years.

Union Budget 2017 is expected to hike the rates moderately to 10% as we hear from sources in the corridors of power. 

In recent times, ITC has managed to recover in the previous session, post two consecutive downbeats.