Call it the Lever effect. After the promoters of MNC FMCG giant Hindustan Unilever Ltd surprised the market with a voluntary offer for sale announcement to mop up shares from the public, several MNC stocks witnessed brisk buying today.

But this buying fever was not uniform in that every stock with an MNC tag was not in demand.

But the buying appeared to be selective and more pronounced in companies where the public shareholding is much higher than the minimum 25 per cent prescribed by SEBI.

Probably this was due to expectations that if the promoters of these companies chose to follow the HUL example, some upward potential was possible.

While the CNX MNC index was up by more than 300 points, much of it due to the rally in HUL stock price, many other MNC heavyweights witnessed surge in trading.

Colgate , another FMCG giant, was up by Rs 85 at Rs 1,475.65 on the NSE with a trading volume of 3.52 lakh shares. Promoters' holding in this stock is just 51 per cent.

Siemens gained Rs 16.60 to trade at Rs 550.50 with a trading volume of 5.39 lakh shares.

Glaxosmithkline Pharma jumped by Rs 53.30 to trade at Rs 2,269. This is a MNC where the promoters' holding is 50.67 per cent. The stock is close to a 52-week high of Rs 2,298 that it had touched on April 3.

GSK sibling GSK Consumer Healthcare rallied by Rs 269.70 to cross the Rs 4,000 mark to Rs 4,076. But the promoters' holding is near the maximum at 72.46 per cent, limiting the impact of any promoter buyback or the possibility of it.

A few other MNC giants outside the CNX MNC index also witnessed frenzied buying. Nestle India, where the promoter holding is 62.76 per cent, vaulted to Rs 4972.30, a gain of Rs 237.35. The trading volume was about 1.75 lakh shares.

Procter & Gamble was another MNC stock to make substantial gain of Rs 114.25 to Rs 2,686. In this company, the promoters holding is at 70.64 per cent. But the trading volume was limited at about 3,400 shares. 

A few other MNC stocks like ABB, Castrol, Sesa Goa and MphasiS only recorded a limited upside on the NSE.

Oracle Financial Services Software and Maruti were surprisingly were among the losers. But the biggest loser was Bosch Ltd that lost Rs 134.90 at Rs 8,889.

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