Sensex drops 192; Welspun down 10% as bears target midcaps

Moneycontrol Bureau

Indices continued their slide, with brokers saying that traders were unwinding their long positions in the absence of institutional buying support.

The Sensex was down 192 points to 19372, and the Nifty was down 58 points to 5856.

Bears targeted midcaps afresh, betting on an overall weak sentiment near term. Shares like Welspun Corp, Core Education, Amtek and ABG Shipyard were down 5-10 percent.

There were more than three losers for every stock that gained.

Brokers say conflicting economic indicators is keeping investors on the tenterhooks. Industrial output in January was better than expected at 2.4 percent, but consumer inflation continued to be above 10 percent, underscoring the problems in the economy.

Also, the general view is that current quarter corporate earnings could be worse than the preceding quarter. Brokers say investors are using rallies to book profits, in the hope of being able to buy back the shares at lower levels near term.

Hindalco, ICICI Bank, ONGC, Jindal Steel and Maruti were among the prominent losers in the Sensex, down 2-3 percent.