New Delhi: 

Hopeful: P Chidambaram

As Indian equities fell once again on weak global cues, Finance Minister P Chidambaram yesterday asked investors to believe in the country's strong economic fundamentals. "Nobody should sell in panic," he said, as a key Indian equities index fell nearly four per cent amid fears of the US recession and global slowdown. "There is no reason for the Indian market to go down just because western markets are down," he said. However, the BSE Sensex yesterday slipped below the 10,000 level to close at over a two-year low of 9,771.70 points. It closed with a loss of 398.20 points, or 3.92 per cent.

The markets watchdog has told foreign institutional investors (FII) that it did not approve their lending and borrowing of Indian stocks overseas, as it was causing a weakness in the domestic money markets. "These transactions are likely to be reversed in the next few days," said Chidambaram, referring to the feedback from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).