Mumbai, Oct. 22 -- The key equity benchmarks traded sharply lower in early trade as the escalating West Asia war kept crude oil prices above $110 per barrel, stoking inflation concerns. The Nifty traded below the 22,600 mark. All sectoral indices traded in the red on the NSE.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 488.34 points or 0.66% to 73,231.64. The Nifty 50 index lost 217.85 points or 0.96% to 22,593.50.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 1.42% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 1.15%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 766 shares rose and 2,394 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged.

FPIs sold shares worth Rs 52,482.59 crore in October through 21 October 2026. Th...