Cash is King - Conserve Cash

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Arun Kejriwal | 07 Apr, 2020
The markets were under pressure in the week gone by and lost on three of the four trading days. BSESENSEX was down 2,224.84 points or 7.46 per cent at 27,590.75 points whilst NIFTY was down 576.45 points or 6.66 per cent at 8,083.80 points.

The top gaining sector was BSEHEALTHCARE which was up 6.59 per cent while the top losing sector was BSEBANKEX down 13.98 per cent. In individual stocks, the top gainer was Lupin, up 19.74 per cent at Rs 655. The top loser was IndusInd Bank, down 23.78 per cent at Rs 313.25.

The Indian Rupee was under terrific pressure and lost Rs 1.33 or 1.78 per cent to close at Rs 76.22 to the US Dollar. Dow Jones continued its wild swings and lost 584.25 points or 2.70 per cent to close at 21,052.53 points.

Singapore has decided to lockdown from 7th April till the end of the month. SGX or Singapore Stock Exchange would continue to function as it is part of essential services.

SEBI has barred promoters from buying their own shares as the new quarter has started. The insider trading rules debar promoters from buying shares until 48 hours after the results have been declared. This time around they have extended the reporting time of the quarter for declaring results of March 2020 quarter. There was some confusion in media about this being a new rule and there were voices of dissent. There is no such thing and the only reason it has been announced is that with an extended period for declaring results, any management/promoter wanting to buy shares of its company needs to declare results first as was the case always.

COVID-19 continues to be the sore trouble spot for India and the world. The death toll and the number of COVID-19 affected persons is rapidly rising. The number of affected persons globally has risen to over 12.03 lakh patients, while the death toll is at 64,754. In India the number has risen sharply for affected persons to 3,588 and the death toll to 99. In India there has been a very sharp spike in the last couple of days after people who had attended a religious congregation in Delhi are being tracked down and found to be COVID-19 affected. This could be a setback to India's efforts to contain the virus and may result in the planned lockdown being extended or lifted in a more gradual and phased manner.

Money market timings have been reduced with effect from 7th April and it may be a good idea if the same timings are also extended to the capital market. Volumes in the market have reduced significantly and reduced timings would help the market in reducing volatility as well. Whether the regulator would take heed of the suggestion or not is anybody's guess but I am sure the market community would be most happy and welcome the suggestion.

Coming to the markets, it has become quite a norm for markets to take one step forward and two steps backward. There is no direction or logic in what's happening. They lose ground and then there is some recovery. Sector after sector is losing ground and the fall in prices is having a cascading effect on margin calls and revocation of pledged shares as well. The fall in prices of Future Retail saw a broker on the exchanges close shop after firing all its employees. Incidentally the brokerage firm India Nivesh had a former CFO/CEO of Future group as its Managing Director for its Wealth Management arm. Quite surprising that a Former insider of the Biyani group could get so badly trapped in Future group share slide. It could also be that this is the tip of the iceberg on this chapter and more events would unfold shortly.

The current levels at which the markets are attractive enough to invest in selectively. However, the global environment is not conducive and the news flow certainly not heartening. Therefore even though one is tempted looking at the prices, it makes sense to just stay away and wait for better times. When this better time would come is yet another dilemma. I believe that in about 4 to 6 weeks' time the world would have come out of COVID-19 and we would be in a better frame of mind. Till then follow the old adage -- CASH IS KING.