Buy or sell stocks, Dec. 4 -- Extending the ongoing consolidation phase, the Indian stock market witnessed a volatile session and ended marginally lower on Wednesday. After a flat start, the Nifty 50 index drifted gradually lower in early trade and then remained range-bound for most of the session. A late rebound in the last half hour helped trim losses, and the index eventually settled at 25,986. The BSE Sensex went off 31 points and closed at 85,106, while the Bank Nifty index finished 74 points higher at 59,348.

Sectorally, most indices traded under pressure, with the auto, energy, and FMCG sectors leading the decline. However, resilience in IT and a recovery in private banks helped limit the downside. The broader markets were compara...