Oil & gas, pharma and capital goods stocks fell in today’s trade. The BSE oil & gas index shed 1.7 per cent. Essar Oil dropped 4 per cent and ONGC shed 2.5 per cent.

The capital goods index on the BSE was down 1.2 per cent. Among the capital goods stocks, Suzlon Energy fell 3 per cent while Praj Industries ended 1.9 per cent lower.

 The BSE pharma index shed 0.7 per cent. Novartis was down 2.5 per cent and Biocon slipped 2 per cent.

Realty and metal stocks, however, gained today. In the realty space, Unitech rose 1.8 per cent and DLF advanced 1.5 per cent. Among the metal stocks, Hindalco and SAIL gained over 4 per cent each.

Among the Sensex stocks, Hindalco was the top gainer. The stock ended up 4.7 per cent at Rs 141. TCS, Tata Steel and JP Associates were up over 2 per cent each.

M&M, however, was the biggest loser in the pack. The stock fell 3 per cent to Rs 907. RCom shed 2.8 per cent and RIL lost 1.8 per cent.

The global cues were mixed. Most Asian stock markets climbed on Tuesday as a rash of better-than-expected earnings reports from major US companies buttressed confidence in the world economy. European markets were, however, lower.

A number of Asia's bourses were up nearly 1 percent, following gains in the US after Wall Street touched new highs for 2009. Oil prices, meanwhile, rose above $80 a barrel for the first time since last year as the dollar continued to founder.

Helping lead the region higher were shares in technology companies after Apple Inc. and Texas Instruments Inc. released quarterly reports that topped most analyst forecasts.