Nervous, and it shows!

The markets continued to remain volatile and on four of the five trading days we had big movements with just one day being flat The fact that all movements were ultimately neutralised and the BSE SENSEX closed virtually flat losing 984 points or 004 per cent to close at 2662591 points NIFTY gained a fraction at 015 points to close at 817020 points The broader indices saw the BSE100 BSE200 and BSE500 lose 009 per cent 004 per cent and gain 004 per cent respectively The BSEMIDCAP lost 015 per cent but BSESMALLCAP gained 064 per centReserve Bank of India RBI governor Raghuram Rajan during a recent press conference following a monetary policy review meeting in Mumbai Rajan will step down when his term ends in September he wrote in a note to colleagues published on the central banks website over the weekend PicAFPThe top sectoral gainer was BSE REALTY up 266 per cent followed by BSE PSU 1775 and BSE FMCG 126 per cent The losers were led by BSE BANKEX down 090 per cent and followed by BSE HEACAR 044 per cent and BSE AUTO 039 per cent In individual stocks PSU bank PNB was the top gainer up 1257 per cent followed by Vedanta 488 per cent GAIL 470 per cent and SBI 349 per cent The losers were led by private bank ICICI down 566 per cent and followed by Cairn India 527 per cent and ONGC 342 per cent It is indeed coincidental that on the one hand the top gainers are led by PSU bankers and the top loser is led by a private bankRR says goodbyeUS Fed on expected lines kept interest rates unchanged but the commentary post the meeting was not showing confidence on the economy and made markets nervous The Dow Jones lost 19018 points or 106 per cent to close at 1786534 points The Indian Rupee lost 32 paisa or 048 per cent to close at 6708 to the dollarRaghuram Rajan the RBI Governor has conveyed to his senior staff that he would be returning to his teaching job once his term ends on September 4 There would be a knee jerk reaction in equity bonds and currency markets when they open today However to the credit of the man it must be said that he has kept the dignity of the high office by ending speculation on his future by writing to his senior staff Also one must remember that the chair is bigger than the man who occupies it and RR has kept that honour and status He has performed under challenging times and the new incumbent would inherit a job which would continue to be challengingThe primary markets see the offer for sale from Mahanagar Gas Limited MGL opening on Tuesday June 21 and closing on Thursday June 23 The offer is for 24694 lakh shares in a price band of Rs 380 to 421 The company supplies CNG and PNG in Mumbai and its surrounding areas and has added the district of Raigarh to its area The price earnings ratio is 1210 to 1340 based on the earnings of Rs 314 for the year ended March 2016 This is at a substantial discount to the PE ratio of its comparable Indraprastha Gas which does a similar activity in the NCR region and quotes at a price of Rs 61740 The PE for the year ended March 2016 is 2076The only concern about MGL is the fact that Mumbai being an island has its limitations to growth and that would be addressed over the next 1824 months when the infrastructure in Raigarh is laid out The discount however is more than adequate and it makes sense to apply for the minimum lot in the retail category as the issue would be oversubscribedWaiting for rainsThe monsoon in Mumbai seems to be elusive and though we have had sporadic showers even as I am writing this article the Mumbai monsoon is yet to happen The heat and humidity is killing and probably the same is having its toll on the markets as well which seem to be going nowhereThe important international event is lsquoBREXITrsquo slated for June 23 There would be nervousness ahead of the same in global markets and it is correct to say that market activity would be muted ahead of the event The options are limited and no one wants it to happen but a referendum can throw up interesting results Suppose the referendum comes out with results of between 5051 per cent wanting to leave the Euro while about 4849 per cent want to continue what would happen Markets are in a confused state currently and it makes sense to just stay away for the next 1012 days It might make better sense to return in July when lsquoBrexitrsquo is behind the worldDisclaimer No financial information whatsoever published anywhere in this newspaper should be construed as an offer to buy or sell securities or as advice to do so in any way whatsoever All matter published here is for educational and information purposes only and under no circumstances should be used for actual trading or making investment decisions Readers must consult a qualified financial advisor prior to making any actual investment or trading decisions based on information published here Any reader taking decisions based on any information published here does so entirely at his or her risk