Sensex tumbles 876 points; Nifty drops below 22,900 dragged by private banks

Image used for representational purposes only. | Photo Credit: AP Benchmark equity indices ended sharply lower on Monday (October 19, 2026) after two days of a rally, with the Sensex tumbling 876.37 points and the Nifty dropping to 22,888.95, following a decline in private bank stocks, mainly HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, and weak global trends.Also read | Stock markets trim most of sharp early losses amid buying in SBI, Reliance IndustriesThe 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 876.37 points, or 1.17%, to settle at 73,852.90. During the day, it crashed 1,020.73 points, or 1.36%, to 73,708.54.The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 257.20 points, or 1.11%, to end at 22,888.95.From the 30 Sensex firms, Axis Bank declined 3.85% despite the private sector lender reporting a 39.4% rise in its consolidated net profit to ₹7,704.67 crore in the second quarter of FY 2026-27, supported by higher core income and improvement in asset quality.UltraTech Cement, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Trent, NTPC and HDFC Bank were also among the major laggards.Shares of HDFC Bank declined over 2% after its September quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.Adani Ports, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, InterGlobe Aviation and Maruti Suzuki India were the gainers."Indian equities came under renewed selling pressure, reversing the recent recovery as weak global cues and selling in private banks and IT stocks weighed on investor sentiment. Private banks remained under pressure following quarterly earnings and concerns over margin trends. In contrast, PSU banks bucked the broader weakness, supported by expectations of relatively resilient margins and asset quality," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Friday after days of relentless selling. They bought equities worth ₹1,165.92 crore, according to exchange data.Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, declined 1.07% to $108.7 per barrel.In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Shanghai's SSE Composite index ended in positive territory, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index settled lower.Markets in Europe were trading in negative territory.The U.S. markets ended lower on Friday (October 16). The Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.14%, the S&P 500 was down 1.09% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.34%.On Friday (October 16), the Sensex climbed 413.66 points, or 0.56%, to settle at 74,729.27. The Nifty was up 148.80 points, or 0.65%, to end at 23,146.15. Published - October 19, 2026 04:30 pm IST