Bangalore based professional C. Sangeetha is worried. “My financial advisor told me it was urgent for me to rejig my portfolio. The markets are in turmoil, and the stocks I own have plunged. I don’t know what to do. My husband retires next year. These are the only savings we have.” Pankaj Kumar, a government employee, has seen the value of his stocks decrease in the past year. “Markets have become so erratic,” he laments. Some have seen their recent investments vanish into thin air.
Even wealthy individuals and institutional investors find themselves on the same boat. Media reports indicate that foreign institutions withdrew billions of dollars from Indian stocks in the past few weeks. One of the richest Indians, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, whose stock portfolio is estimated at more than Rs 12,000 crore, is in trouble. Some of the stocks that he owns have nosedived in the past 12 months DHFL by 81 per cent, Edelweiss Financial Services by more than a third, and Escorts by almost 30 per cent. In a recent TV interview, he said he had never seen such pessimism on Dalal Street.
There is no denying the panic. As retail investors, who are struck with huge losses, seem completely at a loss about what to do, the big guys have either shifted to safer alternatives, or converted their investments into cash. Although a few experts urge people to stay in the market, or buy more as stocks are available for cheap, anxiety is the norm. Shankar Sharma, VC and JMD, First Global Stockbroking, explains: “The situation appears grim. We are hoping for a miracle, as are the markets. That’s what we call a hope trade.”
This story is from the September 16, 2019 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 16, 2019 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The Propaganda Files
A recent spate of Hindi films distorts facts and creates imaginary villains. Century-old propaganda cinema has always relied on this tactic
Will Hindutva Survive After 2024?
The idealogy of Hindutva faces a challenge in staying relevant
A Terrific Tragicomedy
Paul Murray's The Bee Sting is a tender and extravagant sketch of apocalypse
Trapped in a Template
In the upcoming election, more than the Congress, the future of the Gandhi family is at stake
IDEOLOGY
Public opinion will never be devoid of ideology: but we shall destroy ourselves without philosophical courage
The Many Kerala Stories
How Kerala responded to the propaganda film The Kerala Story
Movies and a Mirage
Previously portrayed as a peaceful paradise, post-1990s Kashmir in Bollywood has become politicised
Lights, Cinema, Politics
FOR eight months before the 1983 state elections in undivided Andhra Pradesh, a modified green Chevrolet van would travel non-stop, except for the occasional pit stops and food breaks, across the state.
Cut, Copy, Paste
Representation of Muslim characters in Indian cinema has been limited—they are either terrorists or glorified individuals who have no substance other than fixed ideas of patriotism
The Spectre of Eisenstein
Cinema’s real potency to harness the power of enchantment might want to militate against its use as a servile, conformist propaganda vehicle