At post-budget party, a sombre mood takes hold

A post-budget party organised by a Dalal Street veteran on Saturday evening was attended by some of the biggest names of the market. The event happened at a fivestar hotel in South Mumbai. Speculation has it that many investors and market participants such as Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Radhakishan Damani, Shankar Sharma and Madhusudhan Kela, among others, attended it. The mood of the party was rather sombre as a majority of the participants were disappointed with the budget announcements. The buzz is that almost 90 per cent of the market participants who came to the party were sceptical about the market prospects. Though global factors may have cheered them in the last three days, the absence of any big-bang announcement to boost the economy and the government’s decision to keep the long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax unchanged have not gone down well with them.