Sensex Drops 143 Points As Nifty Slips Below 22,900 At Closing, Rising Crude Oil Prices Above $110 Trigger Stock Market Sell-Off

Mumbai: Indian stock markets ended lower on Wednesday, October 21, as the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 surrendered early gains amid rising crude oil prices and continued foreign investor selling. Concerns over inflation, corporate earnings and the rupee weighed on investor sentiment.

Sensex, Nifty Closing Levels Today

The BSE Sensex declined 143.21 points, or 0.19 per cent, to settle at 73,709.69. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 77.60 points, or 0.34 per cent, to close at 22,811.35. Markets initially gained on optimism surrounding India-US trade negotiations but failed to sustain the momentum.

Crude Oil Above $110 Pressures Markets

Brent crude climbed 1.31 per cent to USD 110.15 per barrel, raising concerns about India's import costs and inflation. Higher oil prices could pressure corporate profit margins and increase volatility in the Indian rupee.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said elevated crude prices and persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) selling overshadowed positive trade developments. However, improving Q2 corporate earnings and domestic institutional investments continued to provide support.

IT Stocks Gain, Auto And Metal Decline

Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT emerged as the only major gainer, rising 2.52 per cent. Nifty Auto declined 1.99 per cent, while Nifty Metal dropped 1.97 per cent. Nifty Realty slipped 1.57 per cent, followed by Nifty Media at 1.24 per cent and Nifty Private Bank at 1.16 per cent.

Gold And Silver Prices Decline

In the commodities market, 24-karat gold fell 0.49 per cent to Rs 1,45,803 per 10 grams. Silver declined 1.15 per cent to Rs 2,09,061 per kilogram.

Stock Market Outlook

Vikram Kasat of PL Capital cautioned that elevated crude prices could sustain market volatility.

Investors will closely monitor geopolitical tensions, India-US trade negotiations, foreign fund flows and Q2 earnings for further direction.