ITC remains an industry favorite even as negative news flow threatens to behead the stock. The move hiking VAT on cigarettes was seen hampering prospects of the industry in the near-term and the stock of ITC took a small knock to sub-200 levels on price-basis from Rs 204 that it was trading at. However, the price has now corrected, trading marginally up at Rs 201. Standard Chartered says that most players will pass on the additional cost incurred on account of the hike.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sanjay Singh, analyst at the research house says that ITC needs to up rates by at least 5-6% for its stock to hold up. He believes that the stock is unlikely to be impacted purely on news flows. ITC will hold up unless earnings get affected, he says.