The Nifty ended the day with gains of 63 points, while the Sensex closed the day with gains of 168 points (provisional). Among the top gainers from the Nifty in trade today was HDFC, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra, Lupin, DLF and Larsen and Toubro.

Stocks that lost ground in trade were Sun Pharma, Jindal Steel, Sesa Goa, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Ultratech Cement and ITC.

PSU banking stocks were in the limelight following a recovery in late trade. Prominent gainers from the space were Punjab National Bank, Union Bank, Bank of Baroda and Oriental Bank of Commerce.

MMTC saw selling pressure after reports that the Department of Disinvestment (DoD) is planning to launch this month or early May the 9.33 per cent stake sale in MMTC, which could fetch around Rs 300 crore to the exchequer.

IT stocks which saw some heavy selling pressure on Monday and Tuesday saw buying support today. Among the gainers from the space were HCL Tech, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, Mindtree, Oracle and Vakrangee.

Auto stocks were subdued in trade after a disappointing set of numbers. Shares from the sector that ended flat to negative were Mahindra and Mahindra, Hero Motors and Maruti Suzuki. Tata Motors, however, bucked the trend and ended the day with smart gains.

Pharma shares had a quiet day in trade today, with most of the stocks from the sector ending the day flat.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day with smart gains. The Hong Kong's Hang Sang, The Korean Kospi and Singapore's Strait Times all ended with notable gains. Markets are now expected to take cues from the earnings data with Infosys set to declare its results on Friday.

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