Markets in red, Sensex down 100pts

The markets continued to trade in the negative territory on the back of weakness in select banking and energy stocks. Pharma and realty stocks too are witnessing some selling pressure. The Sensex touched a low of 18,367, and is now down 96 points at 18,400.
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(Updated at 1315 hrs)

Markets dropped sharply in afternoon trades as heavyweights slipped. The Sensex after tocuhing a high of 18,505 dropped 124 points to touch a low of 18,380. The index was down 104 points at 18,391 at 1315 hrs.

Asian markets continued to trade on a mixed note after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said the US recovery from recession was slow and uneven. Nikkei and Shanghai traded flat while Hang Seng slipped 1% to 22,643.
The World Bank on Tuesday revised up its growth forecast for the developing world and warned that higher food and fuel prices were causing inflationary pressures to build up.The Bank projected said global growth will only be 3.2% in 2011, a 10th point lower than its January estimate and sharply off the 3.8% pace of 2010.

Reliance contributed the most to the Sensex's downfall. The stock was down 1.2% at Rs 944. Infosys and ICICI Bank were also among major draggers.

Cipla was the biggest loser among Sensex stocks and dropped 2.2% to Rs 330. ONGC shed 2% to Rs 271. HDFC, Jaiparaksh Associates, Bharti Airtel, SBI and HDFC Bank slipped around 1% each.

Auto stocks dropped in trades. Hero Honda shed 2% to Rs 1800. Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto were down 1.3% each. However, Tata Motors was up 0.6% at Rs 1,034.

On the other hand, Reliance Communications added 2.6% to Rs 94. NTPC gained 1.4% at Rs 176. BHEL and ITC were up marginally.

Oil fell in New York, erasing earlier gains, amid speculation that OPEC will raise output quotas. Airline stocks rose on the fall in crude prices. Kingfisher Airlines gained 0.8% at Rs 43. Jet Airways was up up 0.7% at Rs 462.

"We expect the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to hike rates by 25 basis points (bps) in its June policy review, which will affect the corporate margins going ahead. Also, the Q1FY12 results will be the main trigger for the markets. If the results are good, one can expect inflows," said R K Gupta, managing director, Taurus Mutual Fund.