III-Advised and Unwarranted

III-Advised and Unwarranted Nishtar THE stock markets which had been in a state of gay abandon until a few days ago are now in mourning. The mood of reckless optimism has suddenly given way to a feeling of utter despondency. It is New Delhi's decision to ban forward trading on all the stock exchanges which has plunged the markets into grief. The official announcement, made on June 27 evening, came like a bolt from the blue and the avalanche of panicky selling that swept the market in late kerb deals wiped out within just one hour the grains accumulated over several weeks. To illustrate, Tata Steel slumped from Rs 123 to Rs 112, Indian Iron from Rs 19.20 to Rs 18, Century from Rs 762 to 695, National Rayon from Rs 586 to Rs 500, Standard from Rs 634 to Rs 560, Tata Engineering from Rs 287 to Rs 250 and Indian Dyestuff from Rs 341 to Rs 300. Latest quotations show an alt-round moderate recovery.