The Sensex ended the day lower by 146 points to close at 18,349 points, while the Nifty ended the day lower by 45 points. Today's trading was also characterised by lower participation in view of the Bharat Bandh announced by the opposition parties.
Shares of oil refining companies were in the limelight following the sharp drop in crude prices. HPCL and BPCL both ended the day with gains of more than 2%.

Software stocks also saw some interest with both Infosys Technologies and TCS seeing buying at lower levels.

High beta names from the metal pack continued to see selling pressure with Tata Steel, Sterlite Industries and Hindalco all ending lower. Private banking stocks also saw selling pressure with ICICI Bank and Axis bank ending the day with losses.
HCL Technologies saw buying interest, following reports that the company had bagged a 5-year, multi-million deal from US based Freescale Semiconductors.

Markets in Europe were trading lower, while Asian indices ended the day in the red. Indian markets are expected to continue to remain volatile due to the fragile political situation in the country.

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