The day ended on a slightly downbeat note!

The Nifty fell for a second day during expiry week as traders remained fence sitters ahead of the 2-day Federal Reserve FOMC meeting to discuss the health of the US economy.

The Nifty lost 19 points to end the day at 8,341 points, closing well below its 200-day moving average which is a key support level for the bulls . Its Advance-Decline Ratio stood at 22/28 with NMDC, Hero Motors, Asian Paints and HDFC losing ground. On the gainers side were Punjab National Bank, BHEL, NTPC and Kotak Bank.

The Bank Nifty edged up after a stunning quarterly performance by Punjab National Bank. As a consequence, the Index rose 70 points to close at 18,282 points. The trend in other sectoral indices was mixed. CNX Realty and CNX Pharma Index were the top losers today.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Sensex lost 102 points to close the day at 27,459 points. Dr. Reddy's, Hero Motors and HDFC were the top losers on the Index, while BHEL, NTPC, HDFC Bank and Hindalco were stocks that rose. As a consequence, the Advance-Decline Ratio on the Sensex stood at 12/18.

The trend in the wider market was evenly matched with 1,352 stocks gaining versus 1,389 that closed below Monday's close.

The day was bearish as well in the derivatives space. Media, Realty and Fertiliser sectors were the worst hit among 18 industries in both price and open interest. The Advance-Decline Ratio was 66/92 in the futures and Options market.

Stocks that hit fresh 52 week highs were Aditya Birla Nuvo, Maruti and KPR Mills.

Despite the fall in broader indices there were some earnings related bright spots in trade today: Mahindra Holidays, PNB, Dish TV and Maruti came up with a stellar set of numbers for the first quarter.

(Image credits: Indiatimes)