As if the fuel price hike is not enough, there are other blows to counter with as the day grew old in the afternoon. I happened to be at Presidency College around 3-30 to submit my son’s application for admission but I was late by minutes.
I was told there would be no application submission for 2 days because of 2 successive bandhs. There was subtle excitement in the air as I looked around, people milling around here and there. But the reason was not on account of bandhs per se.
Bandhs have since long ceased to create stir among the public. Bandhs are now as much parts of life in Bengal as any other normal activity. As I sought to dig a little, it soon transpired that the quantum of petro price hike was a bit unexpected.
A smart debate in the public bus on my way back showed that people were aware that the international crude price has been scaling hitherto unthinkable highs for quite sometime. And that price hike for our consumption was just a matter of time before it happened.
So it has, today. Bandhs are a dampener, but it will be forgotten soon. The hit to purse will be felt for fairly long time, especially if the petro prices stoke the fire under the belly of inflation.
Conversely, if rains are good, the inflation monster can be contained to some extent. This is too far off, one may argue. For, what else can explain the unprecedented slide in share prices after today’s trade..?
This is yet another blow for those who deal in stocks. The signs, according to some experts, look ominous. The Nifty and Sensex breached the crucial levels of 4600 and 15550 on their way down.
Several analysts see 14000 levels for Sensex in not so distant future. Should that happen, many investors will stand to loose substantially.
And after that it may be a long, long journey for the Sensex to scale the top it reached only about 6 months back.
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