mumbai equities slipped further tracking declines in other asian markets investors remained cautious after crude oil which is indias largest import surged above the 100 mark sparking fears of higher commodity prices and hence higher inflation for the first time in history crude oil closed above the 100 mark though it had flirted with the mark on two occasions in january in intraday trade the surge in commodity comes on the back of talk of production cuts by opec and news of a blast at a us refinery our market is likely to further yield ground as indices in asia stage an early morning retreat said anagram stock broking in a note domestically the nifty february futures discount increased from 5 to 20 points with nifty losing further open interest and value on tuesday the total open interest however increased by rs 316 cr to rs 74521 the market seems to be in no hurry to build positions in anticipation of the budget punters seem to be taking a wait and watch attitude with a raging inflation in china and not so encouraging news emanating out of europe or the us where banks and bond insurers are struggling to raise capital the market has a downward bias the note added at 1140 am the bombay stock exchanges sensex was down 390 points or 216 per cent at 1768596 biggest index losers were bhel down 383 hindustan unilever 321 reliance communications 321 hdfc 32 and ntpc 313 technology majors satyam computer up 282 infosys technologies 117 tata consultancy services 06 and wipro 052 were the only index gainers as the rupee fell to 4009 a five month low against the dollar software companies benefit from a stronger dollar as their revenues are earned in dollar terms the national stock exchanges nifty was down 122 points or 213 per cent at 515885 making a low of 515630 after opening at 526715 the market breadth showed 941 declines against 218 advances courtesy wwweconomictimescom