Stocks in this sector were under pressure throughout trade, which saw all counters in the bankex, except Canara Bank, closing in the red.

HDFC Bank, another major player, ended down 2.4 percent.

Mid-cap counters like Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank too struggled in trade and ended down 6.5 percent and 5.8 percent respectively. Both stocks were among top losers in the mid-cap index.

The banking index has gained 7.7 percent in November, a tad higher than the benchmark Sensex’s return of 6 percent.

Would you take advantage of the fall and invest in this sector?

The stock closed at 90.55 rupees, its lowest in over four months. It had closed at 123.25 rupees on September 1, its highest closing point since January 7.

Mahindra Satyam fell on high volumes of over 33 million shares on the BSE and ended as the second-most traded counter.

However, at the Reuters India Investment Summit, a top company executive said customer attrition has stopped and the company was not offering price cuts to win new deals.

Are you optimistic about this stock, or do you think it will fall further

Bharti Airtel was also the top Sensex loser. Smaller competitor Idea Cellular closed 2.85 percent lower.

The telecom sector has gone out of favour with investors after firms slashed call tariffs, raising concerns about their profitability.

Bharti Airtel’s shares have dropped as much as 34 percent since October, while rival Reliance Communication has lost 44 percent over the same period.

Given the fact that India is the world’s fastest growing telecom market, would you take advantage of the fall and invest in these counters?

RIL shares had fallen more than 3 percent over the last three days in the absence of any major announcement at the company’s annual general meeting earlier this week.

The Oil & Gas Index rose 1.52 percent, helped by gains in stocks like Reliance, BPCL, Aban Offshore and HPCL.

Investors in RIL have been rewarded well as shares of the country’s top listed firm have gained 10 percent in November so far.

Do you think Reliance shares will continue to rally?

Indiabulls Real Estate, HDIL and Unitech slipped over 5 percent each and ended as the top losers in the index. Phoenix Mills was the only counter on the index that closed in the green.

Shares in DLF, India’s top listed realty firm, fell 3.7 percent.

Manish Kumar, head of investments at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, told Reuters he was shying away from the real estate sector given its sharp rise and valuations that are pricing in significant increase in execution.

What’s your take on this sector?

Top IT stocks Infosys, Wipro and TCS touched their 1-year highs as the BSE IT index closed 0.7 percent higher.

Over 90 stocks on the benchmark index touched their 52-week highs during trade, including banking counters HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

With many stocks posting healthy gains in the recent past, do you think there is more steam left?

The Oil & Gas Index slipped around 0.7 percent in trade, with ONGC, BPCL and Reliance among the losers.

Energy major Reliance Industries shed 0.7 percent to 2,133.75 rupees, as the energy major did not make any major announcement at its annual general meeting today. Chairman Mukesh Ambani said the company would work towards attaining global scale for its conventional energy platform and invest in new businesses such as retailing and alternative energy.

The BSE Oil & Gas Index has gained over 8 percent this month – a little higher than the benchmark’s gain of 7.2 percent in the same period.

Do you think it is a good time to allocate funds to this sector?

Top IT firms Infosys Technologies and TCS were among the top Sensex losers, falling 0.83 percent and 0.63 percent respectively. Patni Computer dropped over 3 percent.

Financial Technologies, however, bucked the trend and rose 3.5 percent, leading the gainers in the IT index.

The infotech index has gained nearly 7 percent this month, and top counters like Infosys have added over 6 percent during the same period.

What is your favourite pick in this sector at this stage?

Hero Honda and Maruti Suzuki rose 4 percent each in trade, ending as the top gainers among the Sensex components. Exide Industries surged 8.6 percent.

Gains from these stocks also helped the benchmark post a rise of over 150 points.

The festive season has also helped auto companies boost their sales.

Would you invest in auto stocks at this stage?

Only three stocks in the realty index closed in the green, with Parsvanath and Unitech ending as top losers with an over 5 percent fall each.

Top listed realty firm DLF was also under pressure and fell 3.4 percent. Both DLF and Unitech were among top traded counters on BSE.

Would you invest in this sector now?