Sensex falls 460 points, Nifty slips below 22,700 for third straight session

The Sensex fell 460.30 points to 73,249.39 and the Nifty shed 123.70 points to 22,687.65 on Thursday, the third straight losing session, as crude above $111 and West Asia tensions rattled investors.

Indian equities fell for a third straight session on Thursday, October 22, as crude oil topped $111 a barrel and geopolitical worries kept investors on edge. The BSE Sensex closed at 73,249.39, down 460.30 points or 0.62 per cent, after slipping to an intraday low of 73,005.11, while the NSE Nifty settled at 22,687.65, down 123.70 points or 0.54 per cent.

Selling was broad-based: the Nifty Media index sank 2.35 per cent, FMCG dropped 1.41 per cent, IT declined 1.05 per cent and consumer durables lost 0.96 per cent, while pharma, PSU banks and healthcare were the only gainers. The India VIX rose to 15.82, and midcap and smallcap indices underperformed the benchmarks, falling 0.87 and 1.14 per cent respectively.

Analysts blamed elevated energy prices and West Asia tensions for the risk-off mood. Geojit Investments' Vinod Nair said inflation concerns took centre stage as crude spiked and the rupee weakened, with banking-led recovery attempts failing to hold at higher levels. Among Sensex stocks, Reliance Industries fell 2.59 per cent, HDFC Bank 1.85 per cent, while Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement were among the gainers.