History was made on the stock markets on Monday, the 18th May 2009. Immediately on opening, the Sensex surged 1,305 points and touched 13,479. This triggered the circuit breaker and trading was halted till 11.55a.m.
Trading was resumed at 11:55 am after the 2 hour break but a further jump and the breaching of the 20% circuit breaker meant that trading was haled for the day. In all, the sensex gained 2099 points and touched 14,479.
The Nifty also breached the upper limit of 20 percent within a few seconds of opening forcing trading to be halted and closure of the markets. The NSE showed a jump of 17.33 percent in the day rising by a phenomenal 636 points. It closed at 4308.
“Circuit breakers” are intended to control the volatility in the market. The Exchange authorities have set circuit breakers on moves of 10 percent, 15 percent and 20 percent using the previous closing as the base. If the circuit breaker is triggered in one market, it closes the other market as well.
However, the volumes were very poor and hardly any trading got done in the few seconds that the market was open. Only 202 stocks were traded on BSE and 842 on NSE. The total traded turnover of the day was put at 3,103 cr including cash and F&O (Futures and Options).
Investor wealth soared by a whopping Rs four lakh crore within seconds of opening of trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
The rupee too appreciated against the dollar by 120 paise at Rs 48.20 making it more conducive for Foreign Institutional Investors to bring in money into India.
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