Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday kicked off his meetings with financial sector participants beginning with the stock broking community to apprise them of the reforms process and dispel doubts about the Common Minimum Programme.

The meeting, which was being attended by leading brokers, is being held in the backdrop of the recent market upheavals, including the May 17 crash.

Chidambaram, who arrived in Mumbai from Delhi on a two-day visit, was earlier briefed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India Chairman G N Bajpai.

Apart from Bajpai, two Sebi board members, T Nagarajan and A K Batra, too attended the meeting along with National Stock Exchange chairman Ravi Narain and Bombay Stock Exchange executive director Manoj Vaish.

Brokers are expecting a positive message from the finance minister and in anticipation the stock market on Wednesday posted a further rally of 89 points even as foreign funds showed an inclination to participate in the recovery.

Chidambaram is to meet bankers and foreign institutional investors and industrialists too during his visit.