Chidambaram - things will cool down soon

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Friday attributed the recent surge in stock markets to speculators and hoped "things will cool down soon" - a prediction reflected in the plummeting Sensex.

"To some extent speculators are taking advantage of the rise in the Sensex... Things will cool down," he said on the sidelines of a summit here.

The 30-share BSE index today fell by 395.03 points to 18,419.04, against the record high level of 18,814.07 reached in yesterday's trading.

Chidambaram, who had cautioned retail investors from entering the market when it crossed 18,000 points, said: "Sensex is an index of 30 stocks (and) as such it is a number. We don't invest our future in Sensex."

"Steep rise in Sensex sometimes surprises me, sometimes worries me. I do not think fundamentals change so rapidly day-to-day. Our assessment tells us Sensex is driven by copious inflow of funds," he said.

The market had lost heavily in August on concerns about the credit crisis in the US. The Sensex, which was trading at 14,000 level in July and gained up to 15,794 on July 24, fell back to 13,989 points on August 21.

It has since appreciated smartly and in fact galloped from 16,000 points to 17,000 in just six sessions last month and covered the next 1,000 point journey in eight trading days.