HDFC was top loser in Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock declined 2.8% to close at Rs 2,041.

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indices ended on a subdued note on Thursday owing to selling pressure in banking and financial services shares. However, the losses were capped as auto, metal and oil & gas shares witnessed buying interest. The benchmarks opened higher in trade but erased gains in afternoon deals as private sector banking shares led by ICICI Bank came under selling pressure. (Click here for highlights of today's trading session)

The Sensex ended 80 points lower at 36,644 and the Nifty 50 index rose 3 points to close at 10,848.

Six of 11 sector gauges compiled by National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Realty index's 1.8 per cent drop. Nifty Private Bank, Financial Services and Banking sector gauges also dropped between 0.75 and 1.1 per cent each.

On the other hand, Nifty Metal index was top gainer, up 2.6 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.3 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.8 per cent.

HDFC was top loser in the Nifty 50 basket of shares, the stock declined 2.8 per cent to close at Rs 2,041.

Indiabulls Housing Finance, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Hindustan Unilever were also among the losers.

On the flipside, Tata Motors was top gainer, up 8 per cent to close at Rs 118.35. Coal India, ONGC, Bharat Petroleum, Yes Bank, Indian Oil, Dr. Reddy's Labs and NTPC were also among the gainers.

The overall market breadth was positive as 1,129 shares closed higher while 631 ended lower on the NSE.