Too early to bet on rural recovery; stay selective on FMCG stocks: Analysts

In their quarterly update, Godrej Consumer Products, Dabur, and Marico witnessed sluggish growth in the December quarter (Q3) driven by poor rural consumption and a slowdown after the festival season

It may be a little early to cheer the recovery in fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) space as deceleration in the discretionary demand, post the festive season, may off set fragile rural recovery, analysts have cautioned.

"The overall demand environment for staples remains muted, while discretionary demand trends have seen some deceleration post the festive season. We believe margins in staples have bottomed out, but we expect only a gradual uptick with the ongoing softening in raw material prices. This is because companies have begun to effect price cuts to protect market shares against unorganised players, and would also need