Stock market today: Nifty50 ends below 25,500; BSE Sensex down over 170 points

Stock market today: Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, the Indian equity benchmark indices, ended in red on Wednesday as IT and oil & gas shares faced selling pressure, with investors exercising caution before the earnings season and mixed global cues.NSE Nifty ended lower by 46.40 points or 0.18 per cent at 25,476.10. The BSE Sensex dropped 176.43 points or 0.21 per cent to close at 83,536.08, after falling 330.23 points or 0.39 per cent to 83,382.28 during trading hours.Among Sensex companies, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics and ICICI Bank registered losses.Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement and Power Grid showed positive performance."Indian key indices remained largely range-bound, while domestic consumption themes continued to anchor investor sentiment. Despite global trade tensions and commodity tariffs, investor focus is increasingly shifting toward domestic earnings and structural growth drivers, including a likely sequential recovery in urban demand and a pickup in infrastructure-led spending," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.The US extended its April 2 reciprocal tariffs suspension until August 1.Vedanta shares declined 3.38 per cent to Rs 440.80 on BSE following Viceroy Research's report, which labelled billionaire Anil Agarwal's mining group as "financially unsustainable" and a significant risk to creditors.Viceroy announced shorting Vedanta Resources' debt stack, the parent company and majority owner of Mumbai-listed Vedanta Ltd, whilst releasing an 85-page report.Vedanta responded stating, "The report is a malicious combination of selective misinformation and baseless allegations to discredit the Group".In Asian markets, Kospi and Nikkei 225 finished higher, whilst SSE Composite and Hang Seng ended lower.European markets showed positive movement. US markets concluded Tuesday's trading flat.Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.51 per cent to USD 70.51 per barrel.FIIs sold equities worth Rs 26.12 crore on Tuesday, as per exchange data. DIIs purchased stocks valued at Rs 1,366.82 crore.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market and other asset classes given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)