Markets continue to languish; financials weigh

HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and L&T among the top index losers

Markets remained in the red but recovered from the low of the day thus far after the Finance Minister assured that the ruling UPA government has absolute majority despite the DMK party withdrawing support.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) pulled out of the Congress-led UPA coalition on Tuesday in protest against the government's position on a U.S.-backed United Nations resolution on war crimes carried out during Sri Lanka's civil war.

At 1430 hrs, the Sensex was down 193 points at 19,100 and the Nifty dipped 62 points to trade at 5,770.

In the broader markets, the midcap and the smallcap indices slipped 1% each in line with the benchmark index.

In Asia, shares steadied as investors awaited a parliamentary vote in Cyprus on a bailout plan crucial to avert bankruptcy, but potential political instability in India emerged as a fresh worry.

South Korean shares led the early gains in the pan-Asian region with a 0.5% rise, as bargain hunters drove the market up from Monday's one-month lows. Japan's Nikkei stock average gained back 2% after shedding 2.7% for its biggest one-day percent drop in 10 months on Monday as the yen rose broadly. Japanese financial markets will be closed on Wednesday for a holiday.

Back home, all sectoral indices were in the red with realty, Capital Goods, Maetal, PSU and Power indices down 1.5-2% in the noon deals. The least affected were defensive pockets like Health Care and FMCG indices which were down 0.1%.

The top gainers among the Sensex-30 were Gail India up 3% followed by Bajaj Auto, Sun Pharma, ITC,Maruti Suzuki,Wipro and Infosys up 0.2-1%.

Among the draggers were BHEL, Jindal Steel and Bharti Airtel down 4% each.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero MotoCorp, Sterlite, HDFC, SBI, Hindustan Unilever, L&T, Tata Steel, ONGC and Hindalco down 2-3% were the other prominent losers.

The market breadth was negative. 1947 stocks declined while 809 stocks advanced on the BSE.