The Sensex ended the day lower by 119 points, while the Nifty dropped by 40 points to end at 5746 points. Today's losses were led by a sharp drop in the share price of heavyweight HDFC, which lost more than 5%, following a stake sale by the Carlyle group in the company.

The other prominent losers amongst the Nifty stock was IDFC, which lost almost 3%, on selling pressure. Notable gainers from the Nifty stocks was Hindustan Lever, Tata Motors, Mahindra and Mahindra and Larsen and Toubro.

Shares of IVRCL dropped more than 5% on reports that the Zee group had sold its stake in the company.

Banking stocks were subdued in trade today as profit booking emerged in these stocks after the sharp run up in the last few weeks. Private and public sector banks both saw losses with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Allahabad bank all reporting losses.

Shares of heavyweight Reliance Industries was marginally up in trade, which provided some support for the index. Shares of software companies including TCS and Infosys dropped following a sharp appreciation in the rupee.

Meanwhile, shares in Asia ended higher, while share in Europe were trading firm. Markets are expected to see some profit booking and may continue to exhibit volatility going forward.

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