Sebi asks stock exchanges to check steep fall in shares of several firms

MUMBAI, Oct 7 (Business Standard): The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked the stock exchanges to look into the steep fall in shares of several companies over the past month.

According to sources, the regulator suspects large stock market operators could be behind the hammering, perhaps in connivance with company promoters.

It was observed that many stocks in the mid-cap space were essentially moving up without substantial change in the company's fundamentals prior to a sell-off.

The recent selling in the market was triggered by the default of IL&FS, an infrastructure lender. Shares of several non-banking finance companies had crashed last month on worry that liquidity conditions could tighten due to contagion risk from the IL&FS default.