This refers to the report “US blues make Indian markets see red” (August 8). For the past 18 months we have seen international factors (first, the crisis in Europe and now in the US) adversely impact the investment climate in India. So retail investors have become extremely vulnerable to the ups and downs in the stock market. In addition to these external factors are domestic ones like the inflation rate and the continuous increase in interest rates. Discerning retail investors are generally aware of the volatility in the stock market during periods of uncertainties, and do not take hasty decisions. It is, however, the uninformed small investors who are at risk and usually suffer losses.
Retail investors are often amused when some investment advisors or brokerage houses confidently claim that the Sensex will cross 22,000 by end of the current year or that it will cross 25,000 by mid-2012 and so on. Obviously, small investors should not get carried away by such reports since the uncertainties are likely to trouble us in the coming months.
Narendra M Apte, Pune
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