Markets off day's low, Sensex down 330pts

The markets have recovered partially from the early morning lows. The Sensex touched a low of 17,920, and at 1030 hrs was at 18,106 down 332 points. The S&P CNX Nifty was at 5418 lower by 113 points.

Markets across Asia traded on a jittery note this morning as Japan crisis deepened. Japan's problems are set to increase as the third nuclear reactor at Fukushima Daichi exploded today and the Japanese Prime Minister Naoto kan warned that radiation levels would increase around the earthquake hit power plants. Causing concerns that Japan might slip back into the recession.

Nikkei225 which hit the lower circuit in early trades was down 12.7% or 1180 points at 8439, Hang Seng had shed 896 points or 3.8% at 22,449, Shanghai was lower by 63 points at 2874 and the Taiwan had dropped 4.5% to 8133.

Back home all the Sensex stocks were trading in the red, Maruti Suzuki was the top loser, the stock was trading lower by 3.7% at Rs 1,212. It was followed by Tata Power, Jaiprakash Associates, Reliance Infrastructure, HDFC Bank, DLF and Wipro down around 3% each.

On the sectoral front, the BSE Realty index was the top loser the index down 3% or 64 points at 2055. Metal index shed 396 points or 2.5% to 15,279. Power, IT, Auto, Teck, Bankex and Capital Goods indices were also lower by 2-2.4% each. Oil & gas, FMCG, healthcare and consumer durable stocks also reeled under the selling pressure.

HDIL was the top loser among the realty stocks, the stock plunged 5% to Rs 158 followed by Orbit Corp, Indibulls Real Estate, D B Realty, Unitech, Ackruti City, DLF and Mahindra Lifespace. Among the metal stocks - Sesa Goa, Jindal Saw, Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries, JSW Steel and Welspun Corp were the top losers.

The broader markets were also under the intense selling pressure, the BSE mid-cap index was at 6648 lower by 112 points and the Small-cap index was lower by 142 points at 7778.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 1746 stocks declined while 399 stocks advanced.