Markets continue to languish in red

Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Gail India, HDFC Bank and HDFC down 1-1.5% among the major daggers

Markets continue to trade in the negative territory in noon deals on account of selling pressure in financial space along with names like ITC and Tata Motors. At 1235 hrs, the Sensex w as down 62 points at 19,264 while the Nifty slipped 24 points to trade at 5,826.

However, there was some buying in broader markets with the mid and smallcap indices gaining 0.4% each.

The rupee is not far from its record low of 58.98 hit last week, trading at 58.68 versus 57.87/88 at Monday's local close.

In Asia, shares eased on Tuesday as investors waited for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to clarify the U.S. central bank's plans for its stimulus programme - with the mere suggestion of fine-tuning it enough to unnerve market sentiment.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2%, with Chinese and Australian bourses leading the declines.

South Korean shares bucked the trend and rose 0.9% while Southeast Asian shares were also mostly higher.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average gave up early gains and fell 0.2%, swinging from Monday's 2.7% rise.

Meanwhile, European shares opened in the red ahead of the start of the Fed meet later in the day, CAC, DAX and FTSE gave off 0.1-0.5% in opening trades.

Back home, Consumer Durables, Bankex, Auto, FMCG, PSU and Capital Goods indices slipped 0.1-0.8% while Realty, Teck, It, Metal, Oil & Gas, Health Care and Power indices logged gains between 0.04-0.7%.

The only gainers among the Sensex-30 were Hindalco, infosys and Tata Power which gained 1% each along with Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro and Tata Steel gaining 0.5-0.8%.

Among the draggers were Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Gail India, HDFC Bank and HDFC down 1-1.5%.

The other notable losers were ITC, Dr Reddys Lab, Cipla, L&T and ONGC down 0.4-0.9%.

In individual stocks, Venus Remedies surged 6.3% to Rs 291 after the company said it has received patent from Mexico for its novel antibiotic product Potentox.

VA Tech Wabag gained 3.3% at Rs 455 after the company in a joint venture with Pratibha Industries has won an Rs 262 crore order from Melamchi Water Supply Development Board, Nepal.

Panacea Biotech is trading higher by 10% to Rs 119, extending its previous day’s 20% rally on BSE, on back of heavy volumes.

The market breadth was positive owing to the strength in broader markets. 1,021 stocks advanced while 946 stocks declined on BSE.