No evidence of manipulation in stock markets: Bhave

Assuring the investors that there is no evidence of manipulation in the stock markets, Sebi Chairman C B Bhave today said that retail as well as some foreign investors are actually picking up stocks at current levels.

"We have not found anything in the market that would give us suspicion that something had seriously gone wrong with the market itself," he said while addressing the HT Leadership Summit here.

When observed by the moderator whether there was any scam as was witnessed during the bull run, Bhave said, "So far we have not seen anything."

Only leveraged foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are going out of the market, he said, adding long-term investors like pension funds and university funds are buying stocks.

"Equity is going into the hands of people who have patience," he said, pointing out that many people who have stayed away from the market have started buying stocks.

Asked about the redemption pressures being faced by the mutual funds, Bhave said, "When Sebi analysed (Fixed Maturity Plans), it was found that 90 per cent of their assets have the highest rating of AAA and P1 (plus)."

The liquidity pressure, he added, has come down as only Rs 4,000 crore of the special window of Rs 20,000 crore opened by the Reserve Bank is currently being used.

Mutual Funds, he said, "have some liquidity pressure, fortunately in the month of November that also got reversed."