The Sensex ended the day lower by 159 points and the Nifty lost 55 points in trade. Among the top losers from Nifty were the banking stocks which ended the day lower following selling pressure. Private sector banks that lost ground in trade were Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank. PSU banking stocks also lost ground with prominent losers being Canara Bank, Allahabad Bank, State Bank of India, Union Bank of India and IDBI Bank.

Software stocks lent support to the Nifty with HCL Tech and Infosys gaining ground in trade. The high beta metal names also saw buying support with prominent gainers being Jindal Steel, Sesa Goa and Tata Steel.

Bharti Airtel rallied 1 per cent in trade after the company sold a stake to Qatar foundation at a price of Rs 340 per share.

Adani Ports jumped 6 per cent after the company got security clearance to bid for ports.

Real estate stocks saw some selling pressure after the RBI Monetary Policy. Stocks that lost ground from the sector were Anant Raj, Oberoi and Sobha Developers.

FMCG stocks also came in for some selling pressure with ITC and Hindustan Unilever losing ground.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day mixed with the Chinese Shanghai Composite rallying more then 1 per cent, while the Singapore Strait Tines and the Japanese Nikkei lost ground.

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