Can any outside force manipulate the market?
Ans- Stock market moves either on the basis of fundamentals which take care of long term valuations where as the technical governs the short term movements of it. The short term movements are influenced more by short term sentiments which can be quite volatile at times. The short term movements seems to a lay investors sometimes as if they are manipulated but actually it is a play of fear and believe in the short term and hence it becomes very volatile.
