Among the top losers in trade today were PSU banking stocks which lost ground ahead of the Monetary policy. PSU banking stocks that lost ground in trade were Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank, Oriental Bank, Syndicate Bank and Union Bank of India.

HDFC Bank lost almost 4 per cent in trade after the RBI banned FII purchases in shares of the company.

Among the stocks that gained ground in trade were Bharti Airtel which gained 4 per cent, while Cipla gained 3 per cent in trade today.

Pharma stocks were the star performers in trade today as investors once again preferred to take shelter in defensives.

Wockhardt which has been consistently hammered in the last couple of seeks, rallied 11 per cent in trade today. Ranbaxy Labs also rallied 4 per cent, after the company received approval for one of its hypertensive drugs from the US FDA.

HCL Tech, Wipro and Infosys touched their 52-week highs in trade today.

Tata Consultancy Services also gained 2 per cent in trade, as software and pharma stocks remained in the limelight.

Mid cap stocks also saw some selling pressure in line with the markets with the prominent losers being HDIL, IFCI, India Cements and Syndicate Bank.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets ended the day higher in trade. The Jakarta Composite ended the day 1.6 per cent higher, while the Straits Times was up 0.57 per cent and the Nikkei gained 0.83 per cent.

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