Markets too fare poorly
The markets caught the Bharat bandh fever that was reflected in the low turnover of barely Rs 46,398 crore with the futures and options sector accounting for Rs 35,804 crore.
Brokers offices on Dalal Street and Nariman Point were empty as most brokers and their staff live in the suburbs. With taxis, autos and rail services badly hit few could make it to work. Some did keep a skeleton staff in their offices overnight but they were few. All this accounted for the turnover being more than half of what it is on a normal trading day.
The indexes dipped in and out of the red within a narrow range and choppy trade in line with the Asian markets. Reliance Natural Resource Ltd’s stock was the only one that saw some activity.
It closed down 27.60 per cent at Rs 46.30 compared to Friday’s Rs 63 said Mr Ranjit Kapadia of HDFC Securities.
“What was surprising was the banks held on and most of them closed flat to positive,” said Mr Ambareesh Baliga of Karvy Stock Broking.
It was expected that because of the 0.25 per cent hike in policy rates announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday, bank stocks would be down because of pressure on their margins. But that did not happen, said Mr Baliga.
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