A section of the market feels that the effective devaluation of rouble could mar sentiment at some key blue-chip counters like Dr Reddy's, Nestle, JB Chemicals, ITC, Hindustan Lever and Tata Tea. Russia's move to initiate a devaluation process could lead to certain mismatch in the estimates predicted by various pharma and FMCG companies and their actual performances, they feel.

Market participants at large believe that in the absence of a perfect reconciliation between the Indian rupee and the Russian rouble, the earnings in terms of growth figures of Indian companies may come under the shadow of latter's move. On the other hand, a section of market analysts contradict this view in light of the actual performance which needs to be studied closely and prefer to wait for the next step which would be mooted by the Russian government in terms ofIndian exports.

It is also felt that it is too early to estimate the impact of the free floating rouble on the Indian companies at this stage. Commodities like tea, coffee and tobacco are exported to Russia and a major chunk of these exports come from like Nestle India, Hindustan Lever and ITC, whose earnings could be hit. ``Russia's move is bound to have some implications on the tea and pharma industry,'' said S Subramanium, director of Warburg Dillonread.

Analysts say that the immediate impact on companies like Nestle India, HLL and ITC, which are the heavy weights, would be a hammering on these stocks.

Nestle India, for instance, exports coffee to Russia while Hindustan Lever has a well established brand in Brooke Bond in these markets. Analysts estimate Nestle's total coffee contribution to its sales at around Rs 500 crore. ``Buying in a weakening currency which will have an impact on the local demand, is expected to affect the growth of companies like Nestle India,'' an analyst pointed out.Further, since the coffee business worldover is unique and prices are seen softening, this could impact coffee exporters like Nestle, analysts said. Official comments from these companies was, however, not available.

In the case of Hindustan Lever, roughly 25 per cent of its exports turnover comes from Central Europe. The company is an export house with total exports at Rs 1,152 crore in 1997. Overall exports of soaps, detergents and personal products form 5-7 per cent of the total exports, i.e. around Rs 70 crore.

However, industry observers feel that more than India, it will be China which will have to bear the brunt as the Russian trade with China is higher than India. The Russian currency crisis saw the local punters rush to liquidate a substantial chunk of their holdings at the counters of Dr Reddy's, JB Chemicals, Nestle, Hindustan Lever, ITC and Tata Tea. ``Reaction to the Russian crisis has been more of a panic sell off. The fact that the FIIs have not sold heavily provides indications of anunplanned strategy of moving out of blue chips without analysing the actual implication of Russia's move,'' said Arun Kejriwal, chief of dealing of Wood Stock Securities.

Interestingly, bear operators immediately pounced upon the opportunity to hammer these stocks, which reflected on their movement. While Dr Reddy's was locked at the lower limit of the price band at Rs 489 on the BSE, JB Chemicals was hammered to a low of Rs 212.60 from an intra-day's high of Rs 240. However, on account of buying support by local institutions, HLL, ITC and Tata Tea registered meagre losses to the tune of 2 per cent on an average.