Sensex reverses early gains, Nifty slips below 22,450 as oil prices rise

• Sensex falls over 627 points and Nifty drops 1.1 per cent in late-morning trade, reversing early gains

• Foreign investor selling and Brent crude near US$114 a barrel weigh on sentiment

• Declining stocks outnumber gainers by more than six to one as India VIX rises 8 per cent

Indian benchmark indices reversed their early gains to trade sharply lower on Friday, 23 October, as sustained foreign investor selling and rising crude oil prices weighed on sentiment.

At 10.59 am, the Sensex was down 627.39 points, or 0.86 per cent, at 72,622.00, having fallen around 1,100 points from its intraday high. The Nifty declined 249.40 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 22,438.25.

The weakness extended across the market, with 3,245 shares declining against 519 advancing, while 140 remained unchanged.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan Company and Hindalco Industries were among the stocks exerting downward pressure on the Nifty. Gains in Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services and Reliance Industries offered some support.

Foreign institutional investors sold equities worth a net Rs 3,459 crore on 22 October. Domestic institutional investors bought a net Rs 2,891 crore, cushioning part of the pressure but failing to fully offset the foreign outflows.

Higher energy prices added to investors’ concerns. Brent crude futures climbed to around US$113.50 a barrel amid fears of further supply disruptions following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. The benchmark indices had already lost about 2 per cent over the preceding three sessions.

Moneycontrol quoted, Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, founder and chief executive of HST Wealth, as saying that oil approaching US$114 posed a substantial risk for India. He cautioned that sustained high prices could fuel inflation, weaken consumption and squeeze corporate profitability.

Technical indicators also pointed to a fragile market. Analysts said the Nifty needed to regain levels above 22,800 for sentiment to improve.

Pabitro Mukherjee, deputy vice-president for research at Bajaj Broking, identified 22,500–22,400 as an important support zone. A fall below 22,400 could undermine the recovery seen over the previous two weeks and expose the index to its recent low of 22,180, he told Moneycontrol.

Mukherjee placed immediate resistance around 22,860, near the 20-day exponential moving average, with the week’s high of 23,175 presenting a further hurdle.

Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Neo, said a sustained move below 22,550 on the Nifty and 73,000 on the Sensex could intensify selling. He identified potential downside ranges of 22,450–22,350 and 72,700–72,500, respectively.

The India VIX volatility gauge rose 8 per cent to 17, signalling increased expectations of near-term market turbulence.

With agency inputs