No sign of 'undesirables' in stock market: FM

There is no no evidence of any "undesirable" source of investments in the Indian stock markets which are "extremely well regulated", Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said.

The buoyancy in the stock markets does not not worry him as  it  reflects the performance of the corporates and small and medium enterprises, he told PTI.

Asked about apprehensions voiced by security experts over the possibility of terrorist outfits manipulating the Indian stock markets, the minister replied that there was only one case in which there were suspicions of links with some "undesirable elements."

"There has been no no further evidence to support that suspicion. We are looking into that case.

"Well it is only a suspicion that investments could be linked to some undesirable source which is yet to be established. Otherwise you have no no evidence.  No no evidence has been brought. No no case has been brought and no no evidence has been placed before me by an agency except this solitary case," he said.

Chidambaram said the stock market was "extremely well regulated" and it reflected the corporate performance which has been very good in the last 2-3 years.

"In the current year also, corporate performance is very good.  If you want one indicator of good corporate performance, look at the corporate income taxes. If you have got a good corporate performance, why will you like the stock market to be sluggish," he said.

He said in the markets for 2007 the Sensex was up by 47%, Nifty up by 53% and the Small Caps Index by 90%.

"That is a reflection of the performance of the corporate sector or what the small caps indicates is a reflection of the performance of the small or medium enterprises.

"The BSE on banks is 61% up and that is a reflection of the banking sector's performance. If the sector is performing well and the whole corporate sector is performing well why would you like the stock market to be sluggish," he said.