The Nifty ended the day with losses of 42 points, while the Sensex closed the day lower by 153 (provisional) points. Among the top losers in trade were Cairn India, BPCL and Hindalco Industries. Hindustan Unilever continued to see selling pressure for a second day in a row.

Lupin on the other hand continued to rally for the second straight day. NMDC also attracted buying interest and ended the day higher on value buying.

Rallis India gained ground after reports that the company won a multi-million dollar contract for engineering systems from Saudi-based Sadara Chemical.

Orchid, however, was the star performer from the mid cap space after reports that promoters had released a huge quantity of pledged shares.

PSU banking stocks which were trading with gains for most of the day gave up gains and ended the day with losses. Prominent banking names that lost ground were Allahabad Bank, Canara bank and IDBI Bank.

Software stocks had a good day in trade with Infosys and HCL both gaining ground. Realty stocks saw some selling pressure with notable losers from the space being Indiabulls, Anant Raj and DB Realty.

Meanwhile, most of the markets in Asia ended the day with gains led by a strong rally in the Shanghai Composite and Jakarta Composite.

GoodReturns.in