Nifty Cracks For 3rd Straight Day; Broader Markets Bleed

Indian equities ended lower in trade, with several mid caps and small caps plunging, as investors continued to worry over poor governance standards in select stocks.

The Sensex ended the day lower by 108 points, while the Nifty dropped 36 points in trade.

Sentiments were weak in the broader markets with as many as 2000 shares of the total 2630 shares traded, witnessed a decline.

Midcap and small cap stocks saw deep cuts. Shrimp feed and shrimp exporters saw selling pressure, following a sharp drop in demand for shrimp from the US.

Avanti Feeds, which produces shrimp feed and also exports shrimp saw a drop of 8 per cent in its share price. Another shrimp producer, Apex Frozen Foods was locked at the lower end of the circuit filter for the second straight day.

Vakrangee Ltd, which had opened from 27 straight days of lower circuit filters on Monday, was once again locked at the lower end of the circuit filter.

Shares in Deep Industries fell by a staggering 11 percent, after the company said that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered a case against 13 officials of ONGC and Deep after complaint filed by ONGC's vigilance dept regarding contract with ONGC.

Shares of KEI, one of India's leading Electrical Cable and Wire Manufacturers slumped more than 11 per cent in trade today.

Top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Power Grid Corporation of India and Larsen & Toubro Ltd.

All eyes would now be on the RBI's Monetary Policy Review meeting, where the Monetary Policy Committee would decide on an interest rate hike. If the monetary policy committee does raise interest rates, we might see more reaction to stock prices in the coming days.

Meanwhile, most Asian markets ended the day with gains, while most of Europe was trading higher.