Quick Recovery from Budget Blues

Quick Recovery from Budget Blues THE stock market again presents a picture of robust confidence which contrasts sharply with the mood of utter despondency that had come to pervade the market after the presentation of the Union budget. The sudden transformation of the scene is a measure of the stock market's recuperative power. The market made its post-budget low on March 21, with the Financial Express all- India equity price index down by 19.4 per cent from its mid-February all-time high and the Bombay index down by 21 per cent. During this corrective phase, the market retraced almost two-thirds of the rise recorded during the preceding upswing. The recovery from the post-budget low has indeed been quite spectacular. By April 12, in a matter of just 11 trading sessions, the Bombay index had risen by 18.7 per cent, recovering 70.3 per cent of the ground lost in the post- budget decline. The all-India index rose by about 16 per cent, retracing 66.2 per cent of the preceding decline, The stock market did not have to wait for the announcement of the actual modifications of the budget proposals which had evoked strong criticism from leading spokesmen of industry. It took a right-about-turn when the Union Finance Minister let it be known that the government was willing to have a constructive dialogue with industry to overcome its 'genuine' problems. The actual announcement of the wide-ranging reliefs