The Nifty closed the lower by 5.65 points, while the Sensex closed the day lower by 28 points. Among the Nifty gainers were Axis Bank, Hindalco, Ultratech Cement, Tata Motors, Hindustan Unilever, Sesa Goa, Reliance and Asian Paints.

Stocks that lost ground in trade today were IDFC, HCL Tech, L&T, ITC, ICICI Bank, TCS and Maruti. PSU banking stocks which ended sharply lower on Friday saw buying interest following reports that these banks would be capitalised. Among the PSU banking stock gainers were Allahabad Bank, Andhra Bank, Bank of India and Union Bank of India.

Realty stocks saw some buying support in trade with stocks like DLF, HDIL, Oberoi Realty, Indiabulls Realty all gaining ground on hopes of some sops for the real estate sector.

Midcap stocks were subdued in trade with Jain irrigation, Petronet LNG and Oriental Bank losing ground. Midcap stocks that gained ground in trade were Dish TV, Jubilant Food, PunjLloyd, Vijaya Bank and Reliance Power.

Jaypee Infratech fell after the company's results failed to provide an impetus for the stock. Infrastructure stocks were amongst the worst performers in trade today with BHEL, GMR and L&T among the losers.

Most of the Asian markets were shut for a lunar holiday. Markets in Europe were trading mixed with the German DAX lower, while the UK's FTSE and the French CAC were trading higher. Indian markets are expected to trade in a range and look to the budget for future cues.

Meanwhile, India's third largest bourse the MCX SX went live today. It will have a 40- stock index. SX40 will be a free-float based index of 40 large-cap and liquid stocks, representing diverse sectors of the economy.

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