The Sensex ended the day lower by 1 point (provisional), while the Nifty also dropped 1 point in trade today. Among the gainers in trade today were pharma stocks with the Healthcare Index hitting a new lifetime high. Gainers from the sector were Cipla, Lupin Labs, Dr Reddy's and Ranbaxy Labs.

Wockhardt, which had been falling for the last few trading sessions, ended the day at the upper end of the circuit filter.

Apart from pharma stocks, IT stocks also saw buying interest with Tata Consultancy services, Infosys and HCL Tech among the gainers.

Banking stocks were once again badly hit in trade with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Canara Bank and Axis Bank falling in trade.

FMCG stocks ended the day mixed with ITC dropping, while Hindustan Unilever recovered. Metal stocks were in the limelight once again on hopes that Chinese recovery would boost metal demand. Stocks from the sector that gained ground were Tata Steel, Hindalco and Jindal Steel.

Bombay Dyeing saw sustained buying in trade today after reports that private equity investors were buying a stake in the company. The company, however, denied the reports.

ICICI Bank slumped on worries of loans to a power company. Mid cap stocks bucked the trend and ended the day higher with the index gaining.

Among the top gainers from the mid cap space were Sun TV, which rallied 4 per cent, while other notable gainers were Apollo Tyres, IFCI, Havells India.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia ended day lower led by sharp losses in the Japanese Nikkei.

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