Shares in Ranbaxy rallied one per cent, despite the company saying it had suspended shipments from its Toansa and Dewas plants. Other Nifty gainers in trade were Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, Cipla and ACC.

Software stocks lent good support to the market with Infosys, Wipro, TCS and HCL Tech being among the gainers. Nifty stocks that lost ground in trade were mostly from the oil and gas space including the likes of Sesa Sterlite, NMDC and Tata Steel.

Shares in Gujarat Gas rallied five per cent after its board approved a proposed merger with other state-run companies involved in city gas distribution business. Stocks like IDFC and L&T Finance were in the limelight on hopes that they would receive a banking license from the Reserve Bank of India.

Kinetic Engineering stock also ended the day higher after the company sold its entire stake to Mahindra Two wheelers. Banking stocks had a mixed day in trade with private sector names like IndusInd Bank gaining ground, while PSU banking stocks like Syndicate Bank, Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank lost ground.

Meanwhile, markets across Asia ended the day higher led by strong gains in the Japanese Nikkei. However, the Shanghai Composite ended the day lower, while most of the European indices were trading with losses.

GoodReturns.in