Dark mood highlight of this Diwali

MUMBAI: It���s less than a month away, but people are hardly getting into the Diwali spirit. The global gloom is casting its shadow over the pre-festive mood. Companies are somewhat edgy, if not nervous, about inventory offtake and impact on bottom lines. The biggest fear is obviously the availability of easy finance for consumers, which helps them to splurge at this time of the year.

High interest rates and limited finance options are crippling the middle class. Durables makers claim primarily sales (company to dealers), which reflect the trade confidence in consumer offtake, have been good. But it will be the secondary sales (dealers to consumers) that will highlight the consumer mood. Trade sources claim there are concerns of stocks piling up.



Small wonder then that durables and auto companies have offered few discounts this year in the wake of rising input costs that have hit profit margins considerably.

While marketers do not see a strong co-relation between buying sentiment and the plunging stock market, analysts say there could be an impact, given the steep fall in recent times.