The festivities on Monday's mahurat trading to usher in the new Samvat (trading year) 2055 will be restricted only to brokers' offices and will not be reflected in market movements, as the stockmarket grapples with the Unit Trust of India (UTI) crisis, the general slump in the markets and the effects of the global economic meltdown.
A cross-section of brokers who spoke to Business Standard said there was little to look forward to in the mahurat day, as the government had given little incentive to the broking community as a whole and the consequence was a depressed market.
Says Ajit Day, former Calcutta Stock Exchange (CSE) president and a National Stock Exchange (NSE) dealer:
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"In my view brokers should boycott mahurat trading since there has been no long-term incentive from the government."
He says the market was showing little signs of improvement in the present scenario, which means mahurat day will not bring up anything out of the ordinary.
CSE president Kamal Parekh, who is also an NSE dealer, said trading was expected to be lacklustre, owing to the current UTI crisis and the depressed market scenario.
"The economy is also on a downturn. There is nothing to look forward to."
However, he said things should start stabilising once the initial doubts surrounding UTI's financial position subsides.
The significant part is that brokers were virtually unanimous that the corporate performances, which are being unveiled for the first half of 1998-99, will have little positive impact on the markets if the companies did well, since the overall economic and political scenario and the global business environment would continue to cast its depressing shadow on the market.
Says Vivek Mahajan, vice-president, CSE: "We hope and pray that things improve. Samvat 2054 was one of the worst for the markets."
Mahesh Bajaj of Lohia Securities, an NSE brokerage, said the markets were expected to continue with their depressed state, but hoped that things would be better in the medium-term of Samvat 2055.
The market's largest investor, UTI, is perhaps the only major catalyst to the improvement of the markets, brokers said.
"Once UTI's hidden assets are revealed, the markets will be on an upturn once again," Parekh said.
The ball, therefore, is squarely in the UTI court as far as the brokers are concerned.