Markets have stood up to terror attacks

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fe Bureau: Mumbai, Jul 14 2011, 00:00 IST

Tags: Mumbai Blasts Stock Markets | SGX Nifty Futures

No matter how dastardly the attack by terrorists, Mumbai has always fought back. Whether it was the horrific serial blasts across the city in March 1993, the blasts in local trains in July 2006 or the agonising three days when terrorists took hostages in the Taj and Oberoi hotels in November 2008, India’s financial capital has defied fear with a vengeance.

Nowhere is this better exemplified than in corporate corridors and the stock markets. Attendance has never been thin even during the most trying circumstances. Businessmen and investors, including foreigners, have moved on and the markets almost always rallying on the day after. The Sensex has always shrugged off the assault and saluted the city’s spirit.

In short, Mumbai has been quick to get back to business. The Nifty futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange may have slipped 0.72% to 5,545 levels on Wednesday after a series of bomb blasts rocked the city but recovered quickly to 5,575 lower by just 0.2% compared with the previous close, leaving no one in doubt that it would be business as usual when the stock markets open on Thursday. The SGX Nifty futures, traded on Singapore Exchange too, recovered its early losses.

Indeed, way back in 1993, a time when there were no mobile phones or 24/7 news channels, it was Jeejeebhoy Towers, which houses the Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai’s Fort area, that was among the first targets of the terrorists.

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