Markets Witness Bloodbath to End Deep in Red

The markets witnessed a bloodbath in the later part of the trading session due to renewed concerns on the geopolitical front and the resultant spike in crude oil prices, besides a jump in inflation, rollover pressures in wake of expiry of the current derivatives series and caution ahead of the railway budget on Friday and the annual budget on Monday. The Sensex comprehensively broke the 18k mark to end at 17,676, weaker by 501 points or 2.8% and the Nifty shut shop at 5280, down 156 points. The midcap index ended at 6382, lower by 176 points and the small cap index ended at 7815, down 220 points. Oil hit two-year highs in Asian trade as the Libyan turmoil threatened to deepen further and engulf the entire Middle Eastern region. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for April delivery, rose $1.00 to $99.10 per barrel after surpassing the $100 mark in yesterday's session for the first time since October 2008. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in April was up 85 cents to $112.10. On the domestic front, food inflation accelerated in mid-February on rising prices of milk and fruits, amid expectations the government may announce fresh measures to rein in inflation. The food index rose 11.49% in the week ended February 12 despite policymakers' often repeated projections in 2010 that prices would ease to single digits. The food price index rose 11.49% in mid February, slightly higher than last week's 11.05%. The fuel price index climbed 12.14% in the year to February 12, higher than 11.92%, government data showed. And wholesale food prices jumped 15.7% in January compared with 13.6% in December.