On Thursday, October 8, the Indian equity market fell sharply as investors reacted to a spike in crude oil prices. The NIFTY50 index hit a 52‑week low of 22,179.90 during the session, while the S&P BSE SENSEX closed at 71,593.24, down 1,045.46 points or 1.44%. The NSE’s NIFTY50 tanked 371.25 points, or 1.64%, to end at 22,231.80. During intraday trading, the SENSEX touched an intraday low of 71,327.75. All sectoral indices ended in the red, and midcap and smallcap indices underperformed the benchmark indices.

The market sentiment was further weighed down by rising bond yields, weak cues from Asian peers, continued outflow by foreign investors and the RBI’s recent repo rate hike. Ankur Punj, Managing Director of Equirus Wealth, said that global markets sell‑off had a bearing on Indian equity indices as soaring US bond yields coupled with a sharp spike in international crude oil prices to over $102 a barrel pushed the benchmark Nifty to a fresh 52‑week low. Intense FII selling and anticipated further RBI rate hikes are also sending jitters to local investors, as higher interest rates will hurt long‑term growth prospects.

Oil prices surged amid concerns over supply from the Middle East following an increase in attacks on shipping in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, while US output fell as a hurricane threatened offshore production. Investing.com data showed that benchmark Brent crude oil prices jumped 4.2% to a high of $104.43 per barrel in the afternoon session, compared to $100 per barrel at the previous commodity market close. The rising bond yields and the situation of global economic tightening are resulting in investors shifting their investments to other safe‑haven assets, likely pulling out funds from emerging markets into US Treasuries and the benchmark dollar.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth ₹6,121.37 crore on a net basis, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased ₹4,596.57 crore worth of equities. Globally, all the indices in Asia ended red on Thursday following elevated oil prices and a rise in US Treasury yields. Japan’s Nikkei index closed 1.08% lower, South Korea’s KOSPI fell 2.69%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 1.89%, and China’s Shanghai Composite dropped 0.79%.

On Wall Street, the US equity indices ended lower after the trading session on Wednesday, October 7, as investors focused on the weak global market cues. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 341.11 points, or 0.66%, to end at 51,180.17, the S&P 500 dipped 17.18 points, or 0.22%, to close at 7,801.75, while the Nasdaq Composite settled 61.19 points, or 0.22%, lower at 27,538.69. The market breadth was in favour of declines, with 660 stocks advanced, 2,950 declined and 112 unchanged out of 3,722 traded on the NSE.

The market capitalisation of NSE‑listed firms stood at ₹456.69 lakh crore at the close of the session, marking an erosion of ₹10.23 lakh crore from the previous day. India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 15.31 levels, slipping 10.26%. The NIFTY Smallcap 100 index tumbled 2.34% to end at 19,050.10, while the NIFTY Midcap 100 index closed at 57,882.50, losing 2.53%. All sectors ended the session in red, with NIFTY Metal (-3.55%) leading the pack, followed by NIFTY Realty (-3.16%), NIFTY Media (-2.79%), NIFTY Auto (-2.49%) and NIFTY Pharma (-2.32%).