Stock market today: Nifty50 ends below 25,400; BSE Sensex drops almost 350 points

Stock market today: Indian equity benchmark indices, Nifty50 and BSE Sensex, ended in red on Thursday as IT and telecom stocks faced selling pressure. Investors remained cautious before the earnings season, with TCS set to release Q1 results later in the day. Concerns over tariff-related issues also affected market sentiment.The NSE Nifty decreased by 120.85 points or 0.47 per cent to 25,355.25. The BSE Sensex fell for the second consecutive session, dropping 345.80 points or 0.41 per cent to close at 83,190.28. During trading, it fell to 83,134.97, down 401.11 points or 0.48 per cent.Positive trends in international markets helped limit losses in domestic exchanges."Indian equities concluded the day in the red, weighed down by weakness in IT stocks ahead of TCS' Q1 results. Investor sentiment remains cautious ahead of the Q1 results in anticipation of a muted start to the season from the IT and finance sectors. However, the recent consolidation in the IT stocks largely factors in the muted outlook, limiting further worries," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Infosys, Bharat Electronics, Tech Mahindra and Eternal were the main decliners in the Sensex group.Maruti, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Trent and Tata Consultancy Services showed gains."Dalal Street ended in the red on Thursday, as investors remained cautious ahead of two key events -- US President Donald Trump's upcoming tariff announcement and the start of India's Q1FY26 earnings season, with TCS scheduled to report results post market hours," Gaurav Garg, Analyst, Lemonn Markets Desk, said.The BSE midcap index decreased by 0.28 per cent whilst the smallcap index rose marginally by 0.12 per cent.In BSE sectoral indices, technology fell 1.17 per cent, telecommunication declined 1.11 per cent, BSE Focused IT dropped 0.77 per cent, IT decreased 0.71 per cent and consumer durables fell 0.44 per cent.Realty, metal, oil & gas and utilities sectors registered gains."On the sectoral front, profit booking in IT majors ahead of TCS results weighed on the index, followed closely by weakness in FMCG and pharma stocks. However, the realty and metal sectors bucked the trend and closed in the green. The broader indices also ended with modest losses, continuing their profit-taking phase," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.An Indian commerce ministry delegation will visit Washington soon for discussions on the proposed trade agreement with the US to resolve differences in sectors like agriculture and automobiles, according to a government official on Thursday.The visit is important as the US has extended additional import duties (26 per cent for India) until August 1. India seeks removal of this additional tariff.In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose, whilst Japan's Nikkei 225 declined.European markets showed predominantly positive trends. US markets closed positively on Wednesday.Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 77 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.Global oil benchmark Brent crude decreased 0.27 per cent to USD 70 per barrel.(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)