Energy stocks led declines today with Cairn India, BPCL and Reliance among the top losers. Real Estate major, DLF, also dropped sharply in trade following a disappointing set of Q3 numbers posted by the company.

Metal stocks saw a fall with Tata Steel, Hindalco and Jindal Steel all losing ground in trade today. Other prominent losers were HCL Tech, Bajaj Auto, Power Grid Corporation and Lupin.

Siemens continued to fall after the company was dropped from the Nifty group of stocks. Maruti Suzuki fell after the company was excluded from the MSCI index.

Dr Reddy's fell sharply following a poor set of numbers and after a reputed brokerage firm downgraded the stock.

Poor results by DLF dragged other realty stocks lower with Oberoi Realty, HDIL and Godrej Property.

Nifty stocks that gained in trade today were Tata Power, NTPC, Sun Pharma and Kotak Bank. Shares of Suzlon dropped more than eight per cent after its consolidated loss increased four-fold.

Meanwhile, markets in Europe were trading lower led by losses in the German DAX, the French CAC and the UK's FTSE.

Markets are expected to trade in a range and take cues from the Union Budget to be declared later this month.

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