The Sensex ended the day lower by 151 points, while the Nifty lost 51 points in trade. Among the losers in trade were some of the banking stocks including names like ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank. Even PSU Banking stocks that had rallied substantially in trade gave up some ground.

Among the gainers in trade today was Cipla, Hindalco, Jindal Steel, Sesa Sterlite and Reliance. IT stocks were the stars in trade today with HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Infosys touching fresh 52 week highs in trade.

Mid cap stocks saw some buying interest in trade with the major gainers being Hexaware, Sun TV Networks and Bharat Forge.

Oil and gas stocks ended the day mixed with ONGC falling in trade, while Reliance Industries gained marginally.

Wockhardt which had been hammered in the last few months on a series of FDA related issues, gained ground today as investors betted heavily on pharma stocks and ahead of the listing of its subsidiary on the Berne Stock Exchange.

Strides Arcolab ended the day 57 per cent lower after the scrip quoted ex divided for Rs 500 per share dividend.

Alstom gained ground in trade today after the firm received an order from Bharat Heavy Electricals. Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets ended the day higher despite the US Federal Reserve's QE3 tapering announcement.

The Jakarta Composite, Japanese Nikkei, Taiwan Weighted and Australia's All Ordinaries ended the day with strong gains.

GoodReturns.in