The domestic equity barometers ended with moderate losses on Tuesday. The Nifty settled below the 17,750 mark after hitting the day's high of 17,811.15 in early trade. Realty, bank and financial services shares advanced while FMCG, auto and consumer durables stocks declined. As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex shed 220.86 points or 0.37% to 60,286.04. The Nifty 50 index lost 43.10 points or 0.24% to 17,721.50. The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.02% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.16%. The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,588 shares rose, and 1,902 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.

The RBI policy review meeting began on 6 February and concludes on 8 February 2023. The central bank is projected to raise the repo rate but at a slower pace. In its December monetary policy committee meeting, the RBI raised the policy repo rate by 35 basis points (bps) to 6.25%.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 3.82% to 14.1250.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) gained 1.91%. The company's consolidated net profit declined 12.95% to Rs 1,336.51 crore as against Rs 1,535.28 crore posted in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 4,786.17 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2022, registering a growth of 17.54% to Rs 4,071.98 reported in Q3 FY22. Cargo volumes grew 1% to 75.4 MMT in Q3 FY23 as compared to 74.4 MMT reported in the corresponding quarter previous year.

Tata Steel tumbled 5.53% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 2,502 crore in Q3 FY23 as against a net profit of Rs 9,598 crore in Q3 FY22. Total revenue from operations during the quarter amounted to Rs 57,084 crore, down 6% YoY. The fall in revenues was primarily driven by drop in realisations across geographies.

UltraTech Cement shed 0.85%. The cement major on Monday announced that it has commissioned 1.5 MTPA brownfield cement grinding unit at Jharsuguda, Odisha. This forms part of the on-going capacity expansion, said the company. The company's total cement capacity in Odisha has increased to 4.1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).

Muthoot Finance fell 2.36% after the NBFC's standalone net profit slipped 12.4% to Rs 901.65 crore on 7.1% decrease in total income to Rs 2,667.10 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. Sequentially, the NBFC's net profit and total income in Q3 FY23 rose 3.97% and 6.53%, respectively.

JK Paper shed 3.46%. The company's consolidated net profit zoomed 119.2% to Rs 329.32 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 150.21 crore posted in Q3 FY22. Net revenue from operations was at Rs 1,643.06 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2022, registering a growth of 60.5% as against Rs 1,023.62 crore reported in the same period last year.

Kalyan Jewellers India slipped 1.54%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 10.34% to Rs 148.44 crore on 13.06% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 3,884.09 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail (ABFRL) skid 0.61% after the company's consolidated net profit tumbled 94.30% to Rs 11.21 crore in Q3 FY23 from Rs 196.80 crore posted in Q3 FY22. Revenue from operations rose 20.14% year on year (YoY) to Rs 3,588.80 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2022. The company said that it continued with its strong growth trajectory with fifth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth over pre-COVID period.

LIC Housing Finance declined 2.68% after the housing finance company reported 37% drop in net profit to Rs 480.30 crore despite a 16% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 5,871 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. Net interest income (NII) was Rs 1,606 crore, as against Rs 1,455 crore for the same period in the previous year, up by 10 %. Net interest margin (NIM) for the quarter ended 31 December 2022 remained stable at 2.42%.

Global Markets:

Markets in Europe advanced while Asian stocks ended mixed on Tuesday, as investors digested the Reserve Bank of Australia's interest rate hike of 25 basis points, which was in line with expectations.

US stocks ended lower on Monday as investors shifted gears after considering the possibility that the Federal Reserve may take longer to start cutting interest rates.

Traders are keeping a close eye on speeches by Fed officials this week, including Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, for any change in the central bank's rhetoric after data last week showed services activity was strong in January as well as strong job growth.