Nifty falls for second day, down 18 pts

Market surrendered its initial gains amid volatility as violence in Iraq continues to weigh on the trading sentiment, as selling in key Energy, Banking, Infra, Auto and Realty led the benchmark to lose 17.50 points to close at 7,540.70 at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.
The market opened firm, following overnight gains in US market following Federal Reserve's optimism over its economy. It led to hectic buying in IT stocks, also supported by Pharma and FMCG counters.
But the gains were shortlived as wary investors resorted to selling as Energy and Banking counters bore the brunt. Shares of Mid-cap and Small-cap companies also fell.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 366.18 crore yesterday, as per the provisional data from the stock exchanges.
The 50-share Nifty opened higher at 7,580.05 and traded between a high of 7,606.45 and a low of 7,502.55 before finishing at 7,540.70, down 17.50 points, or 0.23 per cent, over its last close.
Major losers were Mcdowel (down 7.18 per cent), ONGC (4.96 per cent), BPCL (4.61 per cent), Kotak Bank (3.81 per cent) and Reliance (2.31 per cent).

Other losers included Coal India, PowerGrid, Bank of Baroda and GAIL.
Major gainers include Infy and TCS (both 2.20 per cent), Asian Paint (1.81 percent) and HCL Tech (1.51 percent)

Meanwhile, other Asian markets ended mixed as investors worried over Iraq violence amid crude supply crunch.
Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 17,073.46 crore from Rs 21,016.97 crore yesterday.
A total of 9,842.48 lakh shares changed hands in 79,39,688 trades, while the market capitalisation stood at Rs 86,45,711 crore.