Nifty Ends Higher, Bank Nifty Slumps

Benchmark indices ended the day higher, even as heavyweight Reliance Industries lent support to the markets, as most of the banking stocks underperformed.

The Bank Nifty ended the day lower by 1.5 per cent, weighed down by HDFC Bank. The Nifty ended the day higher by 34 points, at 10,802 points. In fact, the Nifty at one stage in trade had gained as much as 120 points.

The top losers in trade today apart from HDFC Bank, were HDFC, Bajaj Finance, GAIL and ICICI Bank. The top gainers from the Nifty were some of the Tech stocks like Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech.

HDFC Bank lost ground largely after reports that the bank has conducted a probe into allegations of improper lending practices and conflict of interests in its vehicle-financing operation, according to Bloomberg News reports.

Shares in Karnataka Bank ended the day higher after a good set of results announced by the bank. Meanwhile, the rupee ended flat in today's session after trading in a tight band throughout the day. The currency ended at 75.19 against the U.S. Dollar as compared to Friday's close of 75.20.