Mumbai, Oct. 22 -- Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply at open on Thursday, with the Sensex declining over 525 points and the Nifty slipping below 22,600, as elevated crude oil prices and high US bond yields weighed on sentiment amid continued profit booking.

The BSE Sensex was trading at 73,184.19, down 525.50 points or 0.71 per cent, at the time of filing this report. It opened at 73,343.33 against its previous close of 73,709.69. The Nifty 50 was trading at 22,594.50, down 216.85 points or 0.95 per cent, after opening at 22,687.75.

Brent crude rose 1.55 per cent to USD 110.51 per barrel, while US crude oil gained 1.23 per cent to USD 98.34. In US markets, the S&P 500 futures were up 0.58 per cent and Nasdaq futures gained 1.05 per ...