The Nifty ended the day higher by 18 points, while the Sensex gained 42 points. Retail stocks ended the day steady with Pantaloon Retail, Brandhouse Retails, Shopper's Stop and Provogue ending the day marginally flat.

Today's gains were led by a rally in heavyweight Reliance Industries which jumped more than 2.5%. Other shares that climbed in trade today were Ranbaxy Laboratories, Jaiprakash Associates, BPCL, Gail and Power Grid Corporation.

Software stocks were subdued in trade with Infosys, TCS and Wipro and amongst the losers. Mphasis shed 2% after UBS recommended a sell rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 285.

Other stocks from amongst the Nifty that lost ground were Mahindra and Mahindra, Ambuja Cements, Sesa Goa, NTPC and Grasim.

Aviation stock, Jet Airways which was rallying in the last few days took a breather and lost ground. FMCG stocks also lost ground with Hindustan Unilever, Tata Global and ITC amongst the losers.

Banking stocks ended the day mixed with ICICI Bank, State Bank of India and Axis Bank gaining, while IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and Federal bank lost ground.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day mixed, while markets in Europe were trading higher. The UK's FTSE, the German DAX and the French CAC were all higher in trade.

Markets are expected to be volatile ahead of the FDI vote in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

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