The Nifty closed the day with gains of 5.85 points, while the Sensex gained 12 points in trade today. Leading the gains today was real estate major DLF which rose by more than 4 per cent, while other prominent gainers included Tata Steel, Sesa Goa, Cipla, Axis Bank and Reliance Industries.

PSU banking shares came in for some selling pressure in trade, following a dismal set of results by Indian Overseas Bank.

PSU banking shares that lost ground in trade today were Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda and Syndicate Bank.

Shares of NMDC fell after unconfirmed reports that the company was buying into other PSU company shares. Dena Bank saw its shares drop after its gross and net non performing assets disappointed the markets. Shares of Idea Cellular were volatile today, but ended the day lower after the company reported a lower than expected net profits.

Oil India shares also dropped after reports of its stake sale to be held on January 31. Shares of KRBL jumped more than 6 per cent after the company announced a share buyback programme.

Shares that lost ground from the Nifty were Gail, Tata Power, Bharti Airtel, Larsen, Tata Motors and ITC. The top mid cap losers were HDIL, CESC, UCO Bank and M&M Financial.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day sharply higher led by strong gains in the Japanese Nikkei. Other markets that closed higher included the Singapore, Chinese, Hong Kong and Korean markets.

Markets in Europe were trading marginally higher at the time the Indian markets closed. Indian indices are likely to track global markets for cues in the absence of any major triggers.

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