The Baltic Dry Index, a composite index that measures different sizes of dry bulk carriers and a major indicator of trade, is down 40 per cent after posting losses for 20 straight days - its longest losing streak since August 2012. The fall, analysts say, is due to concerns surrounding the global economic growth and a drop in crude oil prices.
The drop in the index is bad news for stocks of shipping companies whose fortunes had just started looking up after the index had rallied over 30 per cent in October.
Related-party offence Vinod Hingorani, who is the first person to be jailed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has another relative, his brother-in-law and promoter Rajkumar Basantani, who has also gone on the wrong side of the law. Regulatory sources say that penalties running into crores have been imposed on Basantani. Hingorani says he does not know his brother-in-law's whereabouts.
Day traders get battle weary Day traders have become very edgy due to the high volatility in the stock market in the past week. A trader says: "Every day has been a battle for day traders. The sudden crash and bounceback isn't allowing them to settle down, as they don't know how even the next hour will pan out." Some, however, feel that this correction was overdue because the open interest at the start of the month was 13 per cent higher than that of the previous month. The question was the timing. The Sensex fell 641 points in the first three trading days of the week but recovered 662 points on Thursday and Friday.
 "Baltic index on crash course")
