Sensex trades lower, Nifty below 8,400; RIL extends losses

The initial gains, thanks to a breakthrough on the dual control of Goods and Services Tax (GST) between Centre and the state governments, faded in the afternoon trade with the benchmark indices slipping in red zone. 

At 02:35 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 27,207, down 81 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 8,384, down 29 points. 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap was down just 0.1%, while BSE Smallcap was up 0.2%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative. On the BSE, 1,271 shares rose and 1,371 shares declined. A total of 173 shares were unchanged.

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 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," told Siddharth Purohit, senior research analyst with Angel Broking to Reuters.

Buzzing stocks

Reliance Industries was the top loser on Sensex and shed over 3% to Rs 1040 in intraday trade over concerns about spending at its telecom unit that overshadowed better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. 

The company reported 10% year on year (YoY) growth in its standalone net profit at Rs 8,022 crore in Q3 on account of a higher than expected margins in the refining and petrochemical businesses and a higher other income. 

Shares of logistics companies were trading higher for the second straight day on BSE after the GST Council on Monday broke a deadlock over issues of administrative control over assessees and broadly agreed to roll out the GST from July 1, instead of the earlier deadline of April 1.

Gati, Patel Integrated Logistics, Snowman Logistics, Transport Corporation of India, Allcargo Logistics, Sical Logistics, Gateway Distriparks and VRL Logistics were up 1%-5% on the BSE.

KP Energy rose nearly 5% to Rs 366 after the company said its board will meet on 28 January 2017, to consider bonus issue of shares.

Shares of Asian Oilfield Services shot up nearly 6% after the company informed exchanges that it has received letter of award of contract from Oil India for an estimated contract value of Rs 142.86 crore.