NIFTY ENDS AT 22,600; SENSEX SHEDS 125 POINTS AS CRUDE NEARS $114

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower for a fourth consecutive session on Friday, October 23, 2026, with the Nifty 50 closing at the 22,600 mark and the Sensex declining over 125 points, as a surge in crude oil prices near $114 per barrel heightened concerns over the inflation outlook and dampened investor sentiment.

The Nifty settled at 22,600.00, declining 87.65 points or 0.39%, while the BSE Sensex ended 125.56 points, or 0.17%, lower at 73,123.83 [citation:2][citation:3].

However, the indices staged a sharp recovery from their intraday lows. The Sensex recovered 670 points from the day's low, while the Nifty recovered 228 points after touching a low of 22,372.00 [citation:3][citation:4]. Market breadth remained extremely weak, with the advance-decline ratio at 1:6 on the NSE [citation:14].

Sector Losers: All sectoral indices ended in the red. Metal, Consumer Durables, Realty and Media fell over 3% each. IT was the only sector that briefly traded in the green before profit booking [citation:1].

ALL SECTORS IN RED; METAL, REALTY, MEDIA WORST HIT; IT TRIMS GAINS

Every major sectoral index ended in negative territory on Friday, with Metal, Consumer Durables, Realty and Media falling over 3% each [citation:1]. The broader market witnessed a sharper sell-off, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index plunging over 2% to 55,801, while the SmallCap 100 declined nearly 3% [citation:14].

On the losing side, Shriram Finance crashed 3.98% as asset quality worsened, Adani Enterprises fell 2.86%, and JSW Steel declined 2.83% despite reporting healthy Q2 results [citation:4][citation:14]. Tata Steel, Jio Financial Services, and Nestle India were among the other major laggards [citation:14].

On the positive side, Eternal gained 4.25%, Apollo Hospitals rose 1.65%, and ONGC added 1.11%. TCS, L&T, and Asian Paints also ended in the green, providing some support to the indices [citation:4][citation:10].

RUPEE SLIPS TO 94.93; VIX SPIKES 6.47% AS CRUDE, GLOBAL RISKS WEIGH

The Indian rupee depreciated for the second consecutive day, closing 12 paise lower at 94.93 against the US dollar on Friday. The currency came under pressure from rising crude oil prices near $114 per barrel and sluggish domestic equity markets [citation:6][citation:12].

India VIX, the volatility gauge, surged 6.47% to 16.77 from the previous close of 15.76. The index moved between an intraday low of 15.26 and a high of 17.09, reflecting heightened nervousness as crude oil and global market risks weighed on sentiment [citation:5].

FII/DII Flows: Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth ₹3,459 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors bought equities worth ₹2,891 crore. DII buying only partially offset the sustained selling pressure from foreign investors [citation:13].