The Sensex ended the day lower by 64 points, while the Nifty shed 18 points in trade. Among the top losers in trade today were the FMCG stocks which saw losses with ITC and Hindustan Unilever both losing around 1.5 per cent each.

Apart from ITC, another heavyweight that lost ground today was Reliance, which shed ground following worries over its gas exploration programme.

Top gainers in trade today was capital goods equipment maker, Bharat Heavy which rallied 9%, while other notable gainers were Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Hindalco.

Shares in oil marketing companies fell, after the government failed to increase the prices of diesel. Notable losers from the space were HPCL, BPCL and Indian Oil.

Banking shares also ended the day sharply lower as blue chip banking stocks from the private sector like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank fell. Joining them lower was PSU banks like Oriental Bank of Commerce, Syndicate Bank, IDBI Bank and Bank of India.

Realty stocks that shone in trade in early morning, following a Unitech deal failed to hold ground and ended the day with losses. DLF, Unitech and Oberoi Realty all ended the day lower.

IT stocks which have so far been bucking the falling trend, were subdued in trade. Most of the stocks from the sector ended the day flat.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended the day lower, while most of Europe was trading with losses. The German DAX, the French CAC and the UK's FTSE were all trading in the red.

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