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Sensex falls 460 points, Nifty ends at 22,688 as oil tops $110 and rate-hike talk returns
Indian shares fell on Thursday as crude oil climbed to about $112 after a drone strike near a Saudi oilfield. The Sensex lost 460 points and the Nifty 124, and 13 of 16 sectoral indices ended lower. eMudhra fell 20% and Nestle India dropped on food safety notices.
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Indian shares ended lower on Thursday, 22 October, as crude oil jumped to about $112 a barrel after a drone strike near a major Saudi oilfield. The Sensex closed at 73,249.39, down 460.30 points or 0.62 per cent, and the Nifty 50 at 22,687.65, down 123.70 points or 0.54 per cent. Data providers differ by a few points on the close, and one gave a deeper fall for the Nifty, but all agree on the direction.
The damage was wider than the headline indices. Mid-cap and small-cap indices each lost about 1 per cent, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 down 1.14 per cent and the Midcap 100 down 0.87 per cent. In all, 2,670 stocks declined against 1,323 that advanced, and 13 of the 16 major sectoral indices ended in the red. India's volatility index closed at 15.81, and Gift Nifty pointed to a flat start on Friday.
Oil and rates
The main weight on the market was crude. Brent for December delivery was at $111.71 a barrel in the afternoon, near a five-month high, and US crude was near $99. The jump followed a drone attack near Saudi Aramco's Shaybah oilfield, which raised fears about supply from the Gulf, and the US ordered some diplomats and their families to leave its missions in Saudi Arabia. Asian shares were also lower. Higher oil is bad news for India, which imports most of its crude: it raises the import bill, feeds inflation and squeezes margins in oil-consuming sectors.
Interest rates added to the worry. The minutes of the Reserve Bank's rate-setting panel, released on Wednesday, showed that some members believe more rate increases may be needed. The panel raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50 per cent on 7 October, according to the minutes, which point to inflation spreading across goods. Some of Thursday's decline may also have been profit-taking after strong gains in the previous week.
Auto, consumer durables, oil and gas, IT, energy and FMCG indices fell between 0.5 and 1.7 per cent, and the Nifty Media index lost about 2.3 per cent. On the Nifty 50, Bajaj Finance and Cipla were among the few gainers, and Nestle India fell after food safety notices.
| Nifty 50 stock | Move |
|---|---|
| HDFC Life Insurance | -3.26% |
| Nestle India | -3.16% |
| Eternal | -2.50% |
| Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles | -2.07% |
| Reliance Industries | -2.03% |
| HDFC Bank | -1.82% |
| Bajaj Finance | +1.74% |
| Cipla | +1.29% |
| ICICI Bank | +0.79% |
| SBI | +0.73% |
Data last updated: 22 October 2026, 6:00 PM IST
Several stocks moved on their own news. eMudhra plunged 20 per cent, taking its loss over two sessions to 36 per cent, after the national cyber agency CERT-In said some of its intermediate digital certificates had been compromised. Food safety notices also hit Abbott India, down 1.3 per cent, and Zydus Wellness, down 3.4 per cent. Yes Bank fell 2.2 per cent after the Supreme Court overturned the 2020 write-off of about Rs 8,400 crore of its AT1 bonds; the bank said it would have reported a loss of Rs 5,217 crore for the September quarter if it had accounted for the ruling.
Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services dropped 3.3 per cent on concerns about funding costs and insurance distribution. PC Jeweller fell 2.4 per cent even though its September-quarter profit was up 58 per cent from a year earlier. Vodafone Idea slipped 0.9 per cent, its third straight fall, while Jio Platforms' share sale is under way. Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) bounced 18.6 per cent after two losing sessions.
Gold, silver and what to watch
Gold for December delivery on the MCX was at Rs 1,44,850 per 10 grams, down 0.84 per cent, and silver was at Rs 2,03,527 a kilogram, down 2.7 per cent. Dealers expect cautious trading in the coming sessions, with attention on West Asia, crude prices and what they mean for inflation. The US Federal Reserve meets on 27 and 28 October, and most economists in one poll expect it to hold rates. Earnings season is also under way, with Adani Energy Solutions' shares down more than 2 per cent after results and Havells India reporting second-quarter revenue of Rs 6,417 crore.
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