The four-day short trading week was more eventful and volatile than necessary. After gaining steadily on Monday and Wednesday (markets were closed on Tuesday on occasion of Gandhi Jayanti), we had a sharp rise on Thursday on expectations of the cabinet meeting taking crucial decisions for further reforms. This would be the last set of reforms to be announced for the time being as the Assembly election dates for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat were announced. The former will go to the polls on November 4 while the latter will have a two-phased polling session on December 13 and 17. Policy action can only take place after December 20 when poll results of these states will be declared.

Ahmedabad, India: A poster of Narendra Modi is taken down due to election protocol. The same protocol dictates that further reforms cannot be announced till the poll results are declared in December. Pic/AFP