PTI mumbai

Stock markets closed lower on Wednesday due to selling in IT and oil & gas shares as investors turned cautious ahead of the start of earnings season and mixed global trends. Dragged by late selling, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 176.43 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 83,536.08. During the day, it lost 330.23 points or 0.39 per cent to 83,382.28.

The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 46.40 points or 0.18 per cent to end at 25,476.10. From the Sensex firms, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics and ICICI Bank were among the laggards. Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement and Power Grid were among the gainers.

"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 has extended the suspension of its April 2 reciprocal tariffs until August 1. Shares of mining giant Vedanta dropped 3.38 per cent to end at Rs 440.80 on the BSE after US short seller Viceroy Research released a report charging billionaire Anil Agarwal's mining conglomerate to be "financially unsustainable" and posing a severe risk to creditors.