Payments crisis looms large

A payments crisis on the stock exchanges is likely with the drop in prices of technology stocks.

The National Stock Exchange has already deactivated 60 terminals in the futures and options segment because brokers were unable to pay up the margin money on call.

The mark-to-market losses on the Mastek counter in the derivatives segment amounted to Rs 25 crore today.

For the Infosys counter, the figure stood at Rs 155 crore (Rs 1.55 billion). This takes into account the closing outstanding interest in the stocks and the closing price.

The long weekend, with banks closed tomorrow and again on Monday and Tuesday, is expected to add to the distress.

Even if clients pay up, there is no way brokers can cash the cheques because clearing does not take place on Saturdays. More terminals were likely to be deactivated tomorrow, a broker said.

"This is a regular market activity. Terminals are deactivated when brokers' limits are exhausted. They are re-activated as soon as payments are made and the position limits are opened up," an NSE official pointed out.

The crisis took place because the 27 per cent fall in the Infosys share price was unexpected, market sources said. Mastek's downbeat guidance, and the consequent 50 per cent fall in its share price, also affected sentiment.

With the erosion in prices of frontline technology stocks, the market started dumping other stocks in order to shore up their cash reserves and make good their obligations to the exchanges. This led to a general erosion in share prices.