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The Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower due to heavy selling in metal, oil & gas, infrastructure and PSU stocks amid weak global cues.
Domestic equities resumed on a positive note due to consensus over GST and macro-data, as well as better corporate earnings, but lower growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund weighed on the trading sentiment.
IMF has reduced India's economic growth forecast for this year by as much as one percentage point to 6.6 per cent.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex closed lower by 52.51 points or 0.19 per cent at 27,235.66 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty ended down 14.8 points or 0.18 per cent at 8,398.
Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG index was up 1.03 per cent, followed by power 0.51 per cent, IT 0.32 per cent and realty 0.2 per cent. On the other hand, metal index fell the most by 1.52 per cent, oil & gas 1.39 per cent, infrastructure 0.38 per cent and PSU 0.33 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were NTPC (+3.08%), Asian Paints (+2.72%), Axis Bank (+1.98%), HUL (+1.52%) and Hero MotoCorp (+1.3%), while the major losers were Reliance (-3.31%), Coal India (-2.14%), ONGC (-1.74%), Adani Ports (-1.68%) and HDFC (-1.02%).
Reliance Industries was the major loser as concerns about spending at its telecom unit overshadowed better-than-expected third-quarter earnings
Among gainers, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Ltd reversed Monday's losses and were up 0.85 per cent and 0.04 per cent, respectively.
Range-bound trading
The market is expected to move within a range ahead of corporate results and the government budget, analysts said, as more companies gear up to report earnings, including Axis Bank and YES Bank, on Thursday.
The government will unveil its 2017/18 budget on February 1 and investors hope for incentives to support an economy hit by cash shortages after a ban on higher-value banknotes.
“Markets are more or less flat today and will be range-bound ahead of quarterly results and the union budget wherein investors will watch out on how the allocation happens,” said Siddharth Purohit, senior research analyst with Angel Broking.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 347.25 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.
Asian markets
Asian stocks and the pound sagged on Tuesday as investors waited for British Prime Minister Theresa May to lay out plans to exit the European Union, which traders fear will see Britain lose access to the bloc's single market.
A report by IFA Global said: "Asian stock markets are trading on a mixed note, with Hang Seng index trading higher by 96 points and Nikkei index trading lower by 113 points following lack of global cues as US markets remained closed yesterday. On Friday, US stock markets closed on a flat note. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed lower by 5 points and Nasdaq index closed higher by 26 points. US equities closed almost flat after mixed set of economic data released on Friday. European stock markets closed on a negative note, with FTSE closed lower by 10 points and CAC lower by 40 points. European markets ended the day on a negative note ahead of UK prime minister's speech scheduled today."
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