The markets continued to witness selling pressure in the mid-morning deals. The Sensex touched a low of 18,460 but recovered from the low levels post the cabinet reshuffle announcement by the government. At 1136 hours the Sensex was at 18,589, lower by 132 points and the S&P CNX Nifty was at 5,564, lower by 52 points

Meanwhile, on the macro economic front the Government released the IIP data for the month of May. IIP was recorded at 5.6% compared to 6.3% during the previous month. Manufacturing sector growth came in at 5.6%. Electricity grew by 10.6% and the capital goods sector growth was recorded at 5.9%

In a major development on the cabinet reshuffle MS Gill, Sai Pratap, Arun Yadav, Kantilal Behuria and BK Handique have been removed from the post of cabinet minister. At the same time Vilasrao Deshmukh has now been given the charge on Ministry of Science Technology. KC Deo and Beni Prasad Verma were also promoted to the rank of the cabinet ministers. Jayanthi Natrajan is now the Minister of Environment and Forrest and Jairam Ramesh is now promoted to the post of cabinet minister and given the charge of Ministry of Rural Affairs.

Back to markets, Infosys continued to reel under the selling pressure after the company posted its weaker than expected Q1FY12 results. It was trading lower by 5% at Rs 2,770. Tata Motors shed 3% and was at Rs 1,023. Wipro, Jindal Steel, HDFC Bank, Hindalco, DLF, J P Associates and TCS were also among the prominent losers on the Sensex. On the other hand ITC, ONGC,HUL and Bharti Airtel were among the few gainers.

Technology stocks were amongst the worst hit in trades so far. The BSE IT index was the top sectoral loser, the index dropped 3.5% or 213 points at 5,879 levels. BSE Teck index has shed 2.7% at 3,581. Auto, Realty, Capital Goods, Metal and Bankex indices were also trading lower by 1-1.6% each. Most of the power and healthcare stocks were also trading in the negative territory. At the same time FMCG index gained 0.5% to 4,082 levels. Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables and PSU stocks also witnessed some bit of buying.

Infosys led the losers chart among the technology stocks. It was followed by Wipro, Mphasis, HCL Technologies, TCS, Fianancial Technologies and Core projects, down 1-5% each.

Among the FMCG stocks ITC, Dabur India, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and Colgate Palmolive were among the top gainers.

The broader markets were also trading lower. The BSE mid-cap index was down 30 points at 6,944 and the small-cap index is at 8,302, lower 38 points.

The overall breadth remains extremely negative as 1,533 stocks are declining while 830 stocks are advancing.