Sensex falls over 480 points, Nifty below 22,650 as crude prices, global yields weigh on markets

Indian equity markets extended their decline on Thursday, with the Sensex falling more than 480 points and the Nifty slipping below 22,650 as investors remained cautious amid elevated crude prices and higher global bond yields.

The BSE Sensex was trading at 73,223.98, down 485.71 points, or 0.66%, at the time of reporting. The index opened at 73,343.33 and touched an intraday low of 73,005.11.

The Nifty 50 was at 22,615.25, down 196.10 points, or 0.86%. It opened at 22,687.75 and fell to an intraday low of 22,554.85.

The decline came despite a positive close on Wall Street in the previous session. Investors remained focused on crude prices, global interest rates and foreign fund flows, despite the US markets being the green during overnight trading.

Here are Nifty losers and gainers

Nestle India was the biggest loser in the Nifty50 pack, falling 2.75%. Power Grid declined 2.42%, while SBI Life fell 2.20%. Coal India was down 2.12% and Trent declined 2%.

Bharti Airtel was the biggest gainer for the day, rising 0.85%. ICICI Bank gained 0.11%, while ONGC was largely unchanged, rising 0.02%.

Most sectoral indices were also trading lower. Nifty Media fell 1.65%, followed by Nifty FMCG at 1.41%. Nifty Metal declined 1.37%, while Nifty Consumer Durables fell 1.36%. Nifty Auto was down 1.10% and Nifty Oil & Gas declined 1.01%.

Nifty IT was relatively less affected, falling 0.35%.

Crude and US yields remain key concerns

Hariselvan Radhakrishnan, Founder and CEO of HST Wealth, said Indian equities could remain under pressure as energy costs and global borrowing rates stay elevated. “Brent holding near $110 and the US 10-year Treasury yield around 5.1% could continue to restrict any recovery,” Radhakrishnan said.

According to him, persistently high crude prices could add to domestic inflation concerns and delay expectations of policy support. Higher US yields could also keep foreign capital tilted towards dollar assets.“Unless both indicators retreat meaningfully, opening declines may attract only tactical buying rather than signal a durable reversal,” he said.

Radhakrishnan said the positive close on Wall Street could improve sentiment at the margin, but its impact on Indian equities could remain limited. He said the US rally was largely driven by stock-specific developments following encouraging corporate earnings. For Indian markets, he said a more sustained recovery would require pressure from crude prices, US yields and foreign flows to ease.