Mumbai, Oct. 14 -- The key equity benchmarks ended lower on Wednesday, as persistent FII selling, elevated crude oil prices and weak global cues weighed on sentiment. Concerns over rising domestic inflation and ongoing geopolitical tensions added to the cautious mood. The Nifty 50 settled below the 22,650 mark. Pharma and healthcare stocks declined sharply, while FMCG, IT and oil & gas shares advanced.

The S&P BSE Sensex declined 251.89 points or 0.34% to 72,781.99. The Nifty 50 index fell 99.25 points or 0.44% to 22,622.70.

Bajaj Finance (down 2.62%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 2.47%) and ICICI Bank (down 1.59%) were major Nifty drags today.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap index shed 0.05%, while the BSE 250 SmallCap index ad...