Markets Drifts in Red in the Wee Hours of Trade

Close to the day's end, the Sensex lodged a progressive descent falling 118 points to close at 18,178. The Nifty also ended negatively at 5,437 down 32 points following a drop in global stocks from the recent 30-month highs as the Libyan political turmoil sent oil prices soaring to 2.5 year highs, and raising concerns of a disturbance in the global economic recovery.The Sensex, which opened on a negative note following weak global cues and an ongoing strife at Libya, recovered slightly soon after to enter the green in morning trades. Since late morning, the bourses saw range-bound trading, but a little into the late session, the markets began slipping to eventually close negatively. A weak closing in the US markets, with Wall Street suffering its worst day since August, dampened investor sentiment across the globe, due to rising crude prices, which could stoke inflation and add to an already volatile market scenario, due to a crunch in oil supply from Libya, where the government declared a 'force majeure' on exports of oil products. Oil prices rose nearly 6% due to the civil unrest in the country.The broader markets also registered a negative closing, with the Mid-cap index at 6,559 down nearly 1%, and the Small-cap at 8,036 down marginally by 0.3%.