The Sensex ended the day lower by 170 points, while the Nifty lost 61 points in trade. Among the losers in trade today were the banking space with stocks like ICICI Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and State Bank of India dragging the Bank Nifty lower.

Software stocks ended the day mixed with TCS gaining ground, while Infosys and HCL Tech closed the day lower.

Shares in NMDC ended the day with losses after the company announced a pact with workers, which analysts see as impacting the bottomline of the company.

Auto companies which reduced vehicle prices following excise cuts earlier this week ended the day with losses. Mahindra and Manhindra and Maruti Suzuki both ended the day lower in trade.

Bajaj Auto, however, saw renewed buying interest at lower levels and the stocks ended in the green. Financial Technologies which rallied five per cent on Wednesday following news of the likely buyout by Tech Mahindra, ended the day with three per cent gains.

Mid cap stocks managed to show some resilience in trade with the mid cap index ending the day flat. Apollo Tyres, Hindustan Zinc and Divis Labs were among the stocks that saw buying interest.

Meanwhile, Asian markets ended the day with substantial losses, thanks to weaker than expected manufacturing survey from China. The Japanese Nikkei dropped more than two per cent in trade, while the Hang Sang fell one per cent in trade.

GoodReturns.in