Mumbai: Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on June 10 underlined the need for transparent stock markets to protect investors' money.

"We cannot continue with this. We need a healthy stock market. We need a dynamic stock market. And we need a totally new philosophy and approach, because this is an investment avenue. This is the means through which our citizens can share in the growth of corporate activities of the world," said Singh while speaking at a function to fete the country's best managed companies.

Singh said the government was monitoring the sudden jump in banking stocks and would investigate if any unusual factors led to their rise. With the 30-share benchmark SENSEX (sensitive index) moving up by 12.5 per cent in the past month, the Finance Minister is worried about the sudden jump in the shares of state-owned banks.

Scrips of public sector banks have been witnessing intense volatility in the last few days, especially in those stocks, where banks have announced their plans to return equity to the government.

ANI