India continues to underperform following a combination of events at home and around the globe. The passing of the food security bill amid a serious  political crisis, sparked by the pull out of DMK, an UPA ally, have hardly soothed investor nerves.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex quickly slipped into the red after opening in green. At 09.16 AM, the Sensex fell 26.64 points at 18981.46, and the Nifty slipped 4.75 points at 5741.20. The INR opened at 54.53. Midcaps have opened weak as well. Manappuram fell 10.3 percent after losing big on Tuesday.

Other losers on the Sensex included M&M, L&T and Maruti Suzuki shedding around 1 percent each. Sugar stocks were also quickly losing investors’ confidence as the cabinet panel has deferred decision on sugar decontrol. Balrampur Chini, Shree Renuka and Bajaj Hindusthan were down over 2.2 percent each. Biggest gainers on the Sensex were Cipla, HDFC, HUL, TCS and ITC.

GLOBAL MARKETS ROUNDUP

Asian share markets extended losses on Wednesday and investors gave the euro a wide berth after a bailout deal for Cyprus was thrown into disarray.

The euro was pinned near four-month lows against the U.S. dollar in Asia on Wednesday after Cyprus’ rejection of bailout terms seemed to threaten default or even expulsion from the euro zone.

Brent crude oil fell 2 percent to a three-month low under $108 a barrel on Tuesday as uncertainty over a bailout for Cyprus raised concern about the euro zone debt crisis and its impact on energy demand.

U.S. Treasuries prices climbed on Tuesday as a plan in Cyprus to tax bank accounts to help pay for a bailout unravelled, creating uncertainty about the island country’s financial future and reviving fears about the stability of the euro zone.

    LOCAL MARKETS PREVIOUS CLOSE
* BSE index 19,008.10 (-1.48 pct)
* NSE index 5,745.95 (-1.53 pct)
* Rupee 54.37/38 per dollar (54.1650/1750)
* 10-year bond yield 7.90 pct (7.88 pct)
* 5-year OIS rate 7.19 pct (7.14 pct)
* 1-year OIS rate 7.54 pct (7.50 pct)
* Call money 7.60/7.70 pct (7.70/7.85 pct)