Hindenburg report fizzles out, investors’ trust remains in stock markets

Mumbai, Aug 12 (IANS) Indian investors rejected the latest Hindenburg allegations against SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband, Dhaval Buch, as the benchmark indices ended largely flat on Monday, against the predictions of many, including Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi, about an imminent crash following the report.

Rahul Gandhi in a video message on Sunday demanded that the Prime Minister announce a JPC probe into the serious charges against the SEBI chief, saying the integrity of the “securities regulator entrusted with safeguarding the wealth of small retail investors, has been gravely compromised by the allegations against its Chairperson”.

However, the Sensex even jumped over 300 points during the intra-day trading and even crossed the 80,000 level for a short period, reflecting the trust of the Indian investors in the market’s strong fundamentals and overall economic growth.

At close, Sensex was down just 57 points at 79,648 and Nifty was down 20 points to close at 24,347.

According to market experts, the Indian equity market showcased resilience in the face of Hindenburg’s allegations against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch and her husband Dhaval Buch. They said that despite the negative report, the domestic stock markets rejected the claims.

“The market brushed away the Hindenburg-SEBI noises, taking positive cues from global markets. Moreover, the domestic market is anticipating ease in CPI inflation, which is going to be further supported by a good monsoon,” said experts.

Earlier in the day, market watchers had said the Hindenburg report was unlikely to impact the market meaningfully and the buy-on-dips strategy, which has been working well in this bull run, is likely to work again.

On Sunday, the markets regulator advised investors to remain calm and exercise due diligence before reacting to inaccurate reports like Hindenburg. SEBI said that investors should assume that Hindenburg Research may have short positions in the securities covered in the report.

SEBI Chairperson and her husband also issued a detailed response to the accusations made by the US short-seller Hindenburg Research, saying it is unfortunate that instead of replying to the show cause notice, they have chosen to attack the credibility of the SEBI and attempt character assassination of its Chairperson.

The couple firmly addressed all the allegations, providing a detailed rebuttal and emphasised that the contested investment occurred before Madhabi’s tenure at SEBI.

–IANS

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