The Sensex opened with a negative gap of 136 points at 8,707. The index dropped to a low of 8,619 but recovered smartly and touched a day's high of 8,856 after the government announced the duty cuts.
The metal, banking and PSU stocks were hit the most, while capital goods stocks were the major gainers today.
The Sensex finally ended (provisional) with a loss of 14 points at 8,829.
The market breadth was negative - out of 2,482 stocks traded, 1,604 declined, 783 advanced and the rest were unchanged.
