Benchmark indices ended the day lower, dragged down by banking stocks, which saw profit booking following the relentless rally in the last few weeks.

The Nikkei, the Hong Kong's Hang Sang and the Straits Times were all leading gainers in trade.

Leading the set of losers in trade were banking stocks like ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

PSU Banking stocks, which have seen a phenomenal rally in the last few weeks were the biggest losers in trade. Punjab National Bank fell a huge 4 per cent, while Union Bank too slid 4 per cent.

Among the notable gainers in trade were Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Cipla, Hindustan Unilever and Wipro.

Shares in L&T Infotech, which got listed fell in trade, as sentiments for IT stocks remained weak. Almost all of the IT stocks have reported a weak set of numbers.

Shares in VRL Logistics surged after the company said that it was not venturing into the airlines business.

Meanwhile, the rupee was trading at 67.21. The currency has been moving in a range for the last many sessions.

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