The key indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. The Nifty slipped below the 14,200 mark. While private banks, metal and pharma stocks declined, PSU banks and IT stocks managed to trade in the green.

At 10:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 335.42 points or 0.69% to 48,012.17. The Nifty 50 index lost 99.45 points or 0.70% to 14,139.45.

Reliance Industries (down 2%), HDFC Bank (down 1.61%), HDFC (down 1.49%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.89%) and ICICI Bank (down 0.81%) dragged the benchmarks.

Investor sentiment was dented after the new coronavirus variant resulted in fresh lockdowns and other restrictions on movement in certain counties across the globe. However, the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in many countries offered some respite.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) monetary policy decision and the briefing by Chair Jerome Powell will remain on investor's radar today.

Domestic shares were also under pressure ahead of monthly derivatives expiry on Thursday and the upcoming Union Budget.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.48% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index lost 0.08%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 920 shares rose and 1478 shares fell. A total of 120 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 100,248,229 with 2,156,941 deaths. India reported 176,498 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 153,724 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

A total of 20,29,424 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 through 36,572 sessions held till the evening of January 26, the eleventh day of the immunisation drive, according to a provisional report of the Union Health Ministry.

Results Today:

Among the Nifty stocks, Axis Bank (down 1.77%) and Hindustan Unilever (down 2.28%) will announce Q3 earnings today.

Bank of Baroda (up 0.68%), Canara Bank (up 1.80%), Cosmo Films (up 0.55%), Emami (down 0.16%), HG Infra (down 0.99%), ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (up 0.26%), India Cements (up 1.63%), JK Paper (up 1.15%), Jyothy Laboratories (down 2.16%), Laxmi Machine Works (down 0.70%), Mahindra EPC (down 0.12%), Marico (up 0.51%), PNB Housing (down 1.63%), Poly Medicure (down 0.50%), PSP Projects (down 0.57%), Quess Corp (down 2.01%), Tata Coffee (down 1.24%), United Spirits (up 0.93%) and Welspun India (up 2.25%) will also announce quarterly earnings today.

Earnings impact:

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) rose 1.05% to Rs 1375.80. On a consolidated basis, the infrastructure major's net profit rose 4.87% to Rs 2466.71 crore on 1.78% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 35,596.42 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

L&T said that the Covid-19 restrictions continued to have an impact on project site execution and Hyderabad metro operations that led to a marginal decline in consolidated revenue of 2% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. International revenue during the quarter at Rs 12,967 crore constituted 36% of the total revenue.

The consolidated profit was boosted largely due to higher profit from IT & TS segment and sale of commercial property in the realty segment. PAT also includes gain on divestment of Rs 209 crore from discontinued operations in Q3 December 2020.

The group order inflow in Q3 December 2020 registered a strong growth of 76% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year and stood at Rs 73,233 crore. International orders during the quarter constituted 14% of the total order inflow.

In its outlook, L&T said that new project opportunities are mostly seen in water, transportation, power transmission & distribution and renewable energy a green fuels. The prospects for IT & technology services segment appear promising with increased opportunities in technology led outsourcing and digital transformation.

Navin Fluorine International slipped 1.84% to Rs 2521.20. The company posted a 29.7% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 58.89 crore on a 18.7% rise in net sales to Rs 309.1 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Consolidated operating EBITDA jumped 23% YoY to Rs 80.5 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 65.5 crore in Q3 FY20. EBITDA margin improved by 90 basis points to 26% in Q3 FY21 from 25.1% in Q3 FY20.

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