Hindustan Unilever Props up Sensex
MUMBAI -- Hindustan Unilever Ltd., India's largest consumer goods maker by sales, lived up to its reputation of being a defensive stock by defending India's benchmark stock index Tuesday.</br></br>Hindustan Unilever -- one of the 30 shares in the Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index -- gained 7.5% to single-handedly boost the benchmark. The rise was driven by the company's higher-than-expected profit of 13.31 billion rupees ($237 million) for the April-June quarter, announced late Monday. Part of the profit came from the sale of some of the company's properties.</br></br>The news from Hindustan Unilever was a shot of energy in a market which was otherwise depressed over concerns about Spain's deteriorating economic prospects.</br></br>Other major Asian markets closed lower Tuesday. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.24% to 8,488.09 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 0.79% to close at 18,903.20</br></br>India's Sensex finished the day higher, albeit marginally, by 0.24% at 16,918.1.