The Sensex was provisionally up by 36 points, while the Nifty lost 4 points in trade. Among the notable gainers from the Nifty were HDFC, which gained 2.21 per cent, following a sharp decline witnessed on Thursday.

Other notable gainers from the Nifty were Jindal Steel, Tata Steel and GAIL. Heavyweight, ONGC was the top gainer in trade rallying almost 2.2 per cent.

Nifty stocks that added pressure on the index today were Tata Motors, Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco and ITC.

Mid cap stocks also did not have a good day in trade. However, gainers included Bata India, Jain Irrigation, Bicon, Siemens and Voltas.

Pfizer and Wyeth which have been rallying ever since their merger announcement continued to gain ground.

PSU banking stocks did not have a good day in trade with most of the stocks from the sector coming in for some selling pressure. Among the notable losers from the space were Union Bank of India, Canara Bank and IDBI Bank.

Software stocks ended the day mixed with Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services gaining ground, while HCL Tech dropped.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets ended the day with gains led by a rally in the Hong Kong's Hang Sang and the Seoul Composite.

GoodReturns.in