Higher openings of European markets also saw buying interest emerge with the Nifty ending the day with gains of 40 points.

Among the Nifty gainers in trade were GAIL and ONGC from the oil and gas space and Hindalco and Sesa Goa from the beaten down metal space.

Other stocks that gained from the Nifty were IDFC, Coal India, Bank of Baroda and BPCL. Shares from the Nifty that lost ground in trade were from the auto sector including the two wheeler space. Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, Hero Motor Corp and Mahindra and Mahindra were amongst the losers.

Other Nifty losers included Cairn India, DLF and Bharti Airtel. Reliance Industries continued to shed ground and lost ground even today, shedding almost 5 per cent in March.

HCL Tech rallied almost 2 per cent on reports that the company has got an order from Ford Motors. Shares in Gitanjali Gems jumped more then 5 per cent after the board decided to defer the issue of FCCBs.

Tata Metaliks fell after the company decided to terminate its JV with Japan-based Kubota Corp & Metal One Corp.

Realty stocks which have been seeing constant decline in their prices ended the day mixed. Shares in Phoenix Mills and Anant Raj dropped, while shares in Indiabulls and Oberoi Realty jumped.

PSU banking stocks which had fallen over the last few days saw a sharp recovery in trade. Notable gainers from the space were Canara Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day mixed, while markets in Europe were trading flat. Indian markets would be closed for trading on Friday, on account of Good Friday.

GoodReturns.in