Banking shares, which are likely to remain in focus on account of the monetary policy were subdued in early trade. ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank were all flat in trade.

PSU banking stocks, however, lost some ground with prominent losers being Bank of India, Andhra Bank and Allahabad Bank.

JSW Steel was trading marginally lower after the company posted a standalone net profit of Rs 137 crore, a drop over the previous corresponding quarter.

Among non index stocks Amar Raja Batteries gained more than 3 per cent after the company reported a 22.73 per cent increase in net profit for the third quarter.

FMCG company Dabur and metals major Sterlite Industries were both steady ahead of their results.

Puravankara Projects gained more than 1 per cent after the realty firm reported doubling of consolidated net profit.

The Realty sector, which again is a rate sensitive sector saw stocks losing ground with Anant Raj, DLF and Godrej properties among the losers.

The metals pack also saw some selling pressure with Hindalco, Jindal steel and Tata Steel among the losers.

The oil and gas sector contiued to see stocks declining for the second consecutive day. ONGC, Indian oil, Reliance, Gail and BPCL led losses.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia were all trading higher with the Japanese Nikkei, Soul Compiste and Singapore's Strait Times trading with gains.

GoodReturns.in