Nifty slips again on fresh air strike in East Libya

Indian equity benchmarks slipped again amid a choppy trade at 14:11 hours, led by profit booking in oil & gas, metal and technology (except TCS) companies' shares. The Nifty was hovering around the 5500-mark as SBI, ICICI Bank, NTPC and Bharti Airtel too were down. Breadth also turned into negative; about 543 shares advanced as against 733 shares declined on the National Stock Exchange.

Libya concerns are not over yet. There were reports from agencies that fresh air strike has hit Brega oil terminal in East Libya, reports CNBC-TV18. Crude oil inching up towards USD 102 a barrel; was trading at USD 101.82 a barrel, down just 0.4%. London Brent crude fell just 0.35 a barrel to USD 116 a barrel.

However, indices were showed smart recovery couple of hours back after the Libyan leader Gaddafi has accepted peace plan to end crisis in Libya. Both Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the president of the Arab League have agreed to a peace plan from Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to end the crisis in the North African country, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Reuters.

The 50-share NSE Nifty fell 35 points to 5,488 and the 30-share BSE Sensex was trading at 18,327, down 119 points. However, global markets were trading in green as they already factored in rise in crude oil prices.

Among Asian markets - Kospi shot up 2%. Nikkei, Straits Times, Taiwan and Hang Seng were up 0.5-1.4% while Shanghai was down 0.3%. European markets were moderately in green.

Buying continued in capital goods, auto, HDFC group and cement companies' shares. TCS, Tata Power, HUL, Ranbaxy Labs and Jaiprakash Associates too were in green.

In largecaps, Tata Power, HDFC, Reliance Communications, BHEL, HDFC Bank, GAIL and Cairn India were up 2-3% while Reliance Infrastructure, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Sterlite Inds, Hindalco, IDFC, Sun Pharma, BPCL and Suzlon Energy tumbled 3-5%.

In midcap space, Bajaj Finserv shot up 20% as Berkshire Hathway tied up with Bajaj Allianz for general insurance.

Essar Shipping, Deccan Chronicle, Jubilant Life and Money Matters gained 5-9% while S Kumars Nationwide, Bajaj Corp, Prestige Estate, Aurobindo Pharma and Unichem Labs lost 4-7%.

In smallcap space, Vindhya Telelink surged 20% and TTK Healthcare went up 14%. TTK Prestige, Modern India and Sequent Scient rallied 9-12%. However, Fame India, Asian Hotel (E), Parenteral Drug, Prabhav Indus and Gateway Distriparks fell 5-6%.

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Sensex rebounds on Libya news; TCS leads

Indian equity benchmarks showed a rebound in afternoon trade after the Libyan leader Gaddafi has accepted peace plan to end crisis in Libya. The Sensex has recovered more than 250 points from day's low to trade in green amid volatility at 12:45 hours.

Crude has cooled off post the news and could slip to USD 100 per barrel, said Jonathan Barratt managing director of Commodity Broking Services. NYMEX crude oil was trading at USD 101 a barrel, down USD 1 a barrel.

Both Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the president of the Arab League have agreed to a peace plan from Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to end the crisis in the North African country, reports CNBC-TV18 quoting Reuters. Indian markets have reacted positively to the news.

However, fairly sceptical of the peace plan, Jason Feer vice-president and Singapore bureau chief at Argus Media said, "We are yet to hear the government