FIIs not behind market fall: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were not behind the recent fall in stock markets and there was no proposal to either asks them to withdraw from Indian market or ban them, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said.

"I do not think that FIIs trading in stock market are the reason behind volatality (in stock markets) on certain days," he said replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha.

The ups and downs in the stock markets depend on the changing perceptions of investors - domestic and overseas, retail and institutional, about the economy, the sector and the company.

"The recent fall in the stock markets is attributed among other factors, to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US, change in the monetary stance of developed countries, the expected recession in US (and) firming up of oil prices."

FIIs share in the Indian market continues to be small, the Finance Minister said adding sectoral and company specific caps over FII investment. There is, however, no "proposal to ask FIIs to withdraw or ban FIIs."

While the benchmark Sensex declined by 7.4 per cent on January 21, it increased by 34.5 per cent during this fiscal on a point-to-point basis from end of March 2007 to end of February 2008.

"The authorities do not try to manage or control movement of stock indices," he said. Besides, capital market regulator SEBI maintains a constant vigil in the market, and in case of any abnormality, takes appropriate action against the concerned entities.