Markets in red again

The markets which traded flat an hour earlier have slipped back into the negative in the late noon trades.The Sensex is down 91 points at 19,226, up 272 points from the day's low while the Nifty lost 23 points and is trading at 5,776.

Volatality continued to haunt the last trading day for the week. After opening in the green,the markets fell sharply owing to selling pressure and a weak Asian market. As the fear of widening bank bribery scandal probe spread, the markets took a further beating to reach the day's low of 18,954, slipping down the psychological 19,000 mark. This was the lowest level since 13 September 2010.

As the benchmark index was reaching new lows, the broader markets reacted even more sharply. The mid-cap and small-cap companies which outperformed the benchmark index in 2010, gaining 32% and 29% respectively lost 5% each today compared  to the 1% fall in the benchmark index, Sensex. The indices fell for the third straight day on account of concerns that foreign institutional investors (FII) might exit  scam hit companies.

On the Asian front, all the indices ended in the red after a choppy trade as the Korean tensions threatned to resume. Hang Seng lost 0.7% while the Nikkei dropped 0.4%.The Shanghai Composite ended down 0.9% while Jakarta Composite and Seoul Composite lost 1% ecah.

On the BSE sectoral indices, Bankex continues to lead the pack followed by IT index. All the other indices continue to trade in the red. Realty index down nearly 5% continue to be the biggest loser on the sectoral chart for the third day in a row after unearthing the housing loan scam. Consumer Durables and Metal indices down 2% ecah are the the other major losers.

IT major, TCS up nearly 2% is the top gainer on the Sensex followed by Cipla, SBI and Tata Power adding 1% each. ICICI Bank, ONGC and NTPC gaining 0.2% - 0.7% round off the list.

Jaiprakash Associates down nearly 9% is the biggest loser on the Sensex. Reliance Infrastructure, Reliance Communications, Sterlite, Jindal Steel, Tata Motors losing 3% - 5% are the other significant losers.

Scam hit Shares:

DB Realty, LIC Housing Finance and Central Bank of India slumped 7% to 10%. Also, shares of select stocks dropped sharply after the SEBI stated the examining the possibility of insider trading in shares of these companies. Adani Enterprises declined 13%, Money Matters Financial Services tumbled 10% and Pantaloon Retail lost nearly 2%.