Mumbai, July 9 -- Equity benchmarks ended moderately lower today, weighed down by lingering uncertainty over potential U.S. tariff actions and the prospects of a U.S.-India trade deal. While tariff concerns continue to cloud sentiment, investor attention is now turning to the Q1 earnings season, with IT giant TCS set to report its results on Thursday, July 10. The Nifty closed below the 25,500 mark, pressured by declines in metal and energy stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 176.43 points or 0.21% to 83,536.08. The Nifty 50 index fell 46.40 points or 0.18% to 25,476.10.

HCL Technologies (up 2.03%), Reliance Industries (up 1.28%) and ICICI Bank (up 0.70%) were major drags.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.05% and...