Manic Monday at Indian stock market: Sensex, Nifty bleed - ₹3.6 lakh cr gone in 6 hours | What went wrong? Big reasons

Indian benchmark indices fell sharply on 19 October 2026, with the Nifty 50 dropping 1.11% to 22,888 and the Sensex declining 1.17% to 73,852, wiping out about Rs 3.6 lakh crore in investor wealth. The selloff was triggered by weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings from HDFC Bank and Axis Bank, elevated crude oil prices near $107 per barrel, and weak global cues, prompting broad-based profit booking across private banks, IT, FMCG, chemicals, and cement stocks. PSU banks were the only sectoral gainers, supported by better-than-expected earnings from Punjab National Bank.