SENSEX, NIFTY50 snap two-day winning streak dragged by HDFC Bank, Axis Bank

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day winning streak on Monday, October 19, as sentiment turned cautious after Brent crude prices in international markets moved above $108 per barrel.

The SENSEX fell as much as 1,021 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 22,845 dragged down by losses in HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Reliance Industries and Hindustan Unilever.

The SENSEX dropped 876 points to close at 73,853 and NIFTY50 index fell 257 points to close at 22,889.

Brent crude futures declined 1% but stayed above $108 per barrel after US President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs on Russia that may lead to more Russian fuel exports, analysts said.

The move came after Trump struck a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin to export diesel to ‌the ⁠United States. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said these US actions will hurt Ukraine, the report added.

Back home, selling pressure was broad-based as all major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE), barring the measure of PSU Banks, ended lower led by the NIFTY Private Bank index's 1.85% fall. NIFTY Financial Services, FMCG, IT, Realty, Consumer Durables, Healthcare, Pharma, Metal, Auto and Bank indices 0.6% and 1.2%.

Broader markets also faced selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 dropped 1.1% and NIFTY Smaallcap 100 index fell 1%.

Among the individual shares, Ixigo surged as much as 15% after the company recorded a consolidated net profit of ₹61.25 crore during the quarter under review, compared with a year-on-year (YoY) loss of ₹3.17 crore in the September quarter of the 2025-26 fiscal year (Q2 FY26).

Union Bank shares gained as much as 5.5% after it reported a net profit of ₹5,537 crore in quarter ended September 2026, marking an increase of 30% YoY from ₹4,249 crore in the same period last year.

Union Bank's net interest income (NII) or difference between interest earned on loans and expended on deposits jumped 20% to ₹10,583 crore at the end of the second quarter, up 20% from ₹8,812 crore in the year-ago period.

Urban Company stock tumbled as much as 9.4% to a day low of ₹143.28 per equity share, as its consolidated net loss widened to ₹182.48 crore in Q2 FY27 compared to net loss of ₹59.33 crore during the same quarter last year.

Axis Bank was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 4.2% to close at ₹1,236.

Global investment bank Goldman Sachs said that QFY27 earnings were largely in-line with expectations and thesis of cyclical inflection in core pre-provisioning operating profit (PPoP) growth remains on track.

Tata Motors PV, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Apollo Hospitals, Ultratech Cement, HDFC Bank, Trent, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Max Healthcare and Nestle India also fell between 1.8% and 3.1%.

On the flip side, JSW Steel, ONGC, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Eicher Motors, Adani Ports and Dr Reddy's Labs were notable gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,717 shares ended lower while 846 closed higher on the NSE.