The Sensex ended the day lower by 79 points, while the Nifty ended the day lower by 21.50 points at 5669. Among the shares that were hammered today were FMCG majors ITC and Hindustan Unilever. Tobacco to hotel major ITC, dropped more than 2%, while Hindustan Unilever fell more than 2.5%.

Shares of IT companies continued to drop on sustained drop in the rupee. TCS fell more than 1%, while Infosys remained subdued throughout the day ending almost little unchanged over Friday's levels.

Banking stocks ended the day mixed with State Bank of India dropping on selling pressure, while ICICI Bank and Axis Bank ended the day with marginal gains.

Among the top gainers in trade today were BHEL, which surged more than 5% on hopes that the restructuring of the power sector would benefit the company favourably. Other stocks from the Nifty that saw handsome gains were Jindal Steel, Reliance Infra and Mahindra and Mahindra.

GVK jumped more than 6% following reports that the company sought a 660% hike in aeronautical tariff and also introduction of user development fee.

Markets are expected to remain choppy throughout the week as the September Futures is slated for expiry this week. Much of the momentum would now depend on further reforms to be unleashed by the Manmohan Singh government.

GoodReturns.in