SENSEX plunges over 700 points, NIFTY50 below 22,600; broader markets underperform

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a gap down opening on Thursday, October 22, as investor sentiment remained cautious tracking a surge in crude prices in global markets.

The SENSEX crashed as much as 705 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 22,564 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid and Bajaj Finance.

As of 9:21 am, the SENSEX was down 494 points at 73,215 and NIFTY50 index dropped 222 points to 22,589.

Asian markets were trading lower on Thursday tracking a surge in crude prices amid lingering concerns over AI.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.96%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 2.73%, China' Shanghai Composite dropped 1.4% and South Korea's KOSPI fell 2.27%.

Brent crude futures rose 1.7% to $110 per barrel after fresh Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia prompted US to order some diplomats and their family members to leave American missions in the Kingdom.

Selling pressure was broad-based as all the major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading lower led by the NIFTY Metal index's over 2% fall. NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, Auto, FMCG, Media, Pharma, Realty, Healthcare, Consumer Durables, and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.8% and 1.5%.

Broader markets were underperforming their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index fell 1.56% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.65%.

Among the individual shares, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services shares fell as much as 6.5% to ₹278 despite reporting 55% rise in net profit in the second quarter of current financial year.

Mahindra Finance recorded quarterly disbursements of ₹ 16,499 crore, registering 22% YoY growth. The company’s business assets grew 15% YoY, reaching ₹1,46,512 crore. Asset quality improved, with Stage 3 assets at 3.4% (vs 3.9% in Q2FY26) and Stage 2 assets at 4.7% (vs 5.8% in Q2FY26), indicating stability of the portfolio. Collection efficiency at 97% (vs 96% in Q2FY26).

Coal India was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 2.5% to ₹397. Power Grid, Dr Reddy's Labs, Nestle India, Hindalco, Bharat Electronics, SBI Life, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Motors PV, HDFC Life and Max Healthcare also fell between 1.5% and 2.3%.

On the flip side, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Infosys and HCL Technologies were notable gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,361 shares were falling while 691 were advancing on the NSE.