The markets continued to display high volatility for yet another day. After a soft opening, the Sensex rebounded into positive territory for a brief while only to slip back to lower levels. The Sensex, which touched a high of 18,458 in late morning trades, however, was at 18,199, down over 238 points from the day's high. Late session trades saw the Nifty shed 77 points at 5,441. Civil unrest in Libya following an uprising against the country's leader of 41 years, Muammar Gaddafi intensified, with several casualties being reported in the strife-stricken nation. Following news of mounting worldwide dissent, Asian markets opened on a weak note, and effects were also felt on the Indian bourses. Oil prices surged to clinch a 2.5 year high at $108.7 for Brent crude amidst concerns tensions in the Middle-Eastern country could hamper the OPEC-member's oil output, which could possibly spill over to other Middle-Eastern and North African countries. At the same time, a powerful earthquake on New Zealand, which left nearly 65 dead, and several others injured and home less, also sobered market sentiment across Asia-Pacific. Domestically, political issues continued to simmer. The PM requested the Lok Sabha Speaker to proceed with the JPC formation to investigate into the burgeoning 2G spectrum scam, and announced the government is committed to weed out corruption. In the ongoing pre-Budget parliamentary session, the FM said inflationary pressures were primarily due to food and fuel prices, and the economy may need to absorb the impact of rising global prices on inflation.