Both the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange remained closed today due to the terror attacks on Mumbai as per the directive of capital market regulator Sebi. Normal trade will resume tomorrow (Friday). Meanwhile, the November expiry is postponed till Friday. MCX Currency and commodity exchanges will also remain shut today.

The decision to keep markets close today comes in the wake of the terror attack in Mumbai since last night, in which 80 people have been killed and over 250 are injured. A scheduled cabinet meeting will be held at 10:30 am today while the Maharashtra Cabinet is scheduled to meet at 2 pm.

Reacting to the news, ace investor and trader Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said given the circumstances it would have been better if the markets had remained open. He does not expect panic in the market. "If at all, it will be an opportunity to buy," he said. JP Morgan on the other hand feels sentiments will be hurt, but long term impact of these terror attack will be minimal on markets.

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Corporate India too came out strongly against the attack. Vijay Mallya, chairman, Kingfisher Airlines, demanded tough policy action. Anand Mahindra, VC and MD, Mahindra and Mahindra echoed the same sentiment and said: "Hope we find new ways to strengthen our society." He also hoped to see a global reaction to the unprecedented terror attack. KV Kamath, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, said the attack is a blow to businesses in general and hopes to see it bounce back soon.

Meanwhile, US president-elect Barack Obama joined the American government in strongly condemning Wednesday's series of "horrific attacks" in Mumbai and asked Washington to work with India to root out and destroy terrorist networks worldwide.

Condemning the series of attacks in the Indian financial capital, the State Department said that the US stands ready to support the Indian authorities in dealing with the situation, while the White House said it was seeking more information.

On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex shut shop at 9,026.72, jumping 331.19 points or 3.81% and the 50-share NSE Nifty rose 3.7% or 98.25 points to settle at 2,752.25.

Recap of the Terror attack:

On Wednesday evening terrorists seized three five-stars hotels, namely the Taj Mahal Hotel, The Oberoi and at Ramada Hotel in Juhu. Groups of terrorists launched coordinated attacks on at least 12 landmarks in Mumbai. The terrorists started firing indiscriminately and blasted their way through The Taj and Oberoi hotels, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Cama Hospital.

• The National Security Guard and marine commandos are into the final assault against terrorists at the Oberoi hotel
• The assault team has sanitised parts of the Oberoi Trident
• Ten hostages walked out of Oberoi. But over 30, including five foreigners are still trapped inside
• Gunbattle is also on inside Taj hotel and a huge explosion has been heard
• At the third location, Nariman House, commandos are preparing to launch an assault