The Indian stock markets seem to have an affinity for Monday. The `Black Monday' is still fresh in our minds as it led to a steep fall in the markets. Investors were left as an undone crowd at the end of the day and it took almost a year to unearth the entire story that created such a scenario. But this time around, Monday has brought cheer to the investors at large. After testing for a considerable period of time, the BSE Sensex crossed the magical figure of 10,000. Well, whether this is a magical figure or a psychological feeling is highly debatable, but it is for sure that the Indian markets are heading towards a new destination in the global financial arena.
Since its inception, considerable changes have taken place in the Sensex. With the base figure of 100 in 1986, the present day's 10,000 mark is an entirely different and a long journey. Financial markets witnessed several reforms in almost all its segments. Let us take a look at the portfolio of BSE 30 in 1986 (Table 1).
Stocks such as Asian Cables, Scindia Steamship, Bombay Burmah, Zenith and Indian Organic Chemicals constituted the Sensex initially, when it began in 1986 with the base period as 1978-79 and with a value of 100. Today, these stocks barely attract investors' attention. Today, there are only eight stocks that have remained in the Sensex at both the levels. Only six of these scrips namely Hindustan Lever, ITC, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Grasim and ACC have always occupied their position throughout the eventful 20 years. An array of other changes to the Sensex basket has left the investor with a portfolio of stocks that acts as a representative of the Indian economy and its transition over the past two decades. It is also worth mentioning that technology majors such as TCS and Infosys which started operations on a small scale have turned out to become integral components of the index. Today, several Public Sector Unit' (PSUs) stocks also figure distinctively while the then prevailing private sector blue-chip companies made up the Sensex at 100.
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