Markets are highly volatile today after yesterday's steep decline. The indices opened flat and declined sharply soon after. The Sensex went below 11200 and the Nifty slipped below 3350. Buying in Reliance, TCS and aluminium stocks helped the indices to recover.

After trading with gains for a brief period, the indices have slipped again in mid-morning trades.

The Sensex opened at 11367 and touched a low of 11186. The index is trading lower by 49 points at 11306 at 11.10 AM.

The Nifty opened at 3380 and saw a low of 3337 in early trades before recovering. The index is trading lower by 6 points at 3374.

Cipla is continuing its fall and is trading over 3.5 per cent lower.

VSNL is still unable to recover from yesterday's sharp fall and is trading nearly 2.5 per cent lower. The stock had lost nearly 8 per cent yesterday.

Zee Tele, which saw a sharp fall towards close yesterday, has given up another 2.5 per cent.

Engineering stocks are weak in early trades. ABB has lost almost 3 per cent while Siemens has given up more than 2 per cent. BHEL and L&T are trading with losses of more than 1.5 per cent each.

Among the banking stocks, SBI and ICICI Bank have given up more than 1.5 per cent each.

Satyam, ITC and MTNL are among the other losers in early trades.

Reliance Industries is providing a lot of support to the indices. The stock has added nearly 2.5 per cent after the company said it would sell 5 per cent, and may be an additional 24 per cent, of subsidiary RPL. Excellent response to the RPL IPO, which opened today, is also helping the stock.

Dr Reddy is the biggest gainer among index stocks in early trades. The stock has gained over 3 per cent on reports that the company would launch a key drug in the US markets shortly.

TCS has recovered from yesterday's fall and is trading close to 1.5 per cent higher. Infosys, which would announce its results tomorrow, is also trading higher.

Aluminium stocks have recovered from yesterday's weakness. Hindalco has gained over 2 per cent while Nalco is trading higher by close to a per cent.

Cement stocks are firm, helped by the good quarterly numbers from ACC. Gujarat Ambuja and ACC have added around 0.5 per cent each.

Auto stocks have also recovered, led by Maruti which is trading more than a per cent higher. Tata Motors has added 0.5 per cent.

Mid-caps are under pressure in early trades and have lost more than the large caps. The mid-cap index is trading with losses of more than 1.3 per cent. Market breadth is highly negative with nearly 3 declining stocks for every advancing stock on the NSE.

Kewal Kiran Clothing got listed on the exchanges today. Issued at Rs260, the stock opened at Rs270 on the NSE and saw a high of Rs308.7. The stock is trading at Rs282.

Rohit Ferro Alloys is another new listing today. Issued at Rs30, the stock opened at Rs32.7 on the NSE and saw a high of Rs34.7. The stock is trading at Rs33.55.

Pidilite, Nicco Corp and Khaitan Electrical are among the major gainers in mid-caps.

Crisil, Malu Paper and Shivalik Global are among the mid-cap losers.