It is business as usual in Mumbai

Mumbai, July 12 (UNI) Notwithstanding a series of rush-hour blasts in suburban trains, the city's lifeline, last evening, it was business as usual for Mumbaikars, who are known for their tenacity and resilience, this morning.

Even traders and brokers at both the bourses -- BSE and NSE -- gave a thumbs up signal during the day and closed the trading with an increase of 315 points and 79 points respectively.

Giving their views to UNI team, majority of traders said the business community in the metro is getting used to crises and know that the ''show must go on''. Mumbaikars understand that they will have to get used to bombs, blasts and deluges with a brave front as if they are inevitable happenings, they remarked.

''We were not expecting the BSE sensex to react much. We were expecting maybe a 200-250 point drop, but because of the good Infosys results, which were beyond expectations, I think the IT sector is pulling up the market,'' D D Sharma, senior vice president, research, Anand Rathi Securities, said.

Mr Jayant Pai, vice president, Parag Parikh Financial Advisory Services Ltd said, ''People are getting slightly accustomed to these things so they don't cause as much panic as in earlier days. I am really happy that people reacted very positively to this, politicians can learn from this.'' ''The spirit of Mumbai is really great -- all those people coming out to help, come what may. And I think the credit should be given to the government. They reacted swiftly, and the trains are back to running again,'' Ms Mallika Rajgopal, 40, teacher, said.

Mostly it is business as usual. Many people, who reached home late in the night, are coming in late this morning, attendance is about 60 to 70 percent but there's no panic or anything, said an officer at ICICI Bank on D N Road.

Mr Sanjay Dutta of Quantum Securities feels that the impact of the blasts on the markets will be minimal. He feels that the markets will close marginally positive, if there is good guidance and numbers from Infosys.

Mr Dutta further said that if the market sells off 300-400 points, then there will be a lot of buying coming in. As the market is light right now, there could be a major unwinding because there aren't many positions in there.

Investment bankers such as JPMorgan Chase maintain that the economic impact of blasts will be limited. However, they believe that the markets will be under pressure today. The group's Rajiv Malik says that the blasts at best will have a near term impact. But it won't have much of an impact in the medium and long terms.

He expects the rupee to be under pressure. But he says that if the slip up is too much, the RBI will always step in. He feels that bond will also be weak due to blasts and yesterday's auction.

Mr Nandan Nilekani, MD&CEO of Infosys, while talking to a television channel this morning, complimented the tenacity and resilience of Mumbaikars in putting up with the serial blasts last evening and said ''no force can stop India's GDP growth of 8 per cent.'' UNI SN MAZ VKG1645