A stock-broker breaks down after the market crash

Jamshedpur, May 17: The panic on Dalal Street spilled over to the city as restive small investors scrambled to sell their stocks, including those of blue-chip companies today.

Most of the registered online stock and share brokers of the city revealed that there has been a huge selling particularly by small investors throughout the day.

There was a mad rush to sell shares of major companies like Wipro, GAIL, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and ONGC. Fuelling the extreme reaction was the fear that markets across would not be able to recover from Monday’s crippling crash and might take a couple of years to revive.

“Small investors do not want to block their money for such a long period. By their logic, opting out of the market was the only option,” said Jai Prakash Palsania of Fairdeal Investments.

Officials of Stock Holding Corporation of India (SHCI) revealed that shares of blue chip companies were being sold in a frenzy by a section of small investors.

A spurt in sales by small investors has been visible since the past one week. The bloodletting began after the Sensex crashed to below 4,500 points amid continuing speculation of the shape of Congress-led coalition at the Centre. As if on cue, investors in the city began a panic-sale of their stocks.

Some are selling the shares in the hope that their initial investment is saved, said Palsania. “Individuals who had purchased shares of a company in the hope of a lucrative returns were stranded when the Sensex begun its nosedive. Most preferred to sell without profit rather than lose their initial investment.”

Outraged investors blamed the Congress and the Left parties for the collapse in the markets.

“I have lost Rs 10,000 on my initial investment. All this is because of the approach of the Congress and Left parties. Why don’t they realise that their statements will only drain away the investors’ savings,” said Krishna Murai Singh.

“People fear that once Left parties become part of the government, they will slam the brakes on the process of economic liberalisation,” said a senior officer of SHCI.

Traders remarked that small investors are traditionally averse to major risks and a loss of a few thousand rupees makes a dent in their pockets. Thus, the rush to abandon unfruitful investments was great, said the traders.

The instability of the market, on display today, will again dissuade small investors from trading. “Small investors were making queries about shares for the past few days but the enthusiasm will be hit,” said an officer of Bharat Trading, which has its office in Bistupur.