Mumbai: Indian equities witnessed a dramatic intraday reversal on Wednesday, October 21. After opening on a promising note and testing resistance near 23,100 on the Nifty, markets succumbed to intense selling in the afternoon session. At the closing bell, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 143.21 points, or 0.19%, lower at 73,709.69, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled 77.60 points, or 0.34%, down at 22,811.35, according to the ScanX closing wrap and The Hindu BusinessLine's market live blog.

Market breadth was heavily negative: 884 shares advanced against 3,361 decliners on the BSE, meaning more than three shares fell for every one that rose, MF News Daily reported. The Services sector was the biggest drag, falling over 5%, while Engineering Services and Capital Goods–Electrical Equipment also declined sharply. Diamond, Gems and Jewellery stocks were a rare bright spot, gaining more than 2.5%.

IT stocks bucked the selloff, with the Nifty IT index surging about 2.2% as Wipro, Infosys and Mphasis led gains, BusinessLine reported. Analysts cited Brent crude trading above $110 a barrel — which raises concerns over imported inflation, corporate margins and the rupee — along with profit-booking at higher levels and sustained foreign investor outflows, as the main drivers of the reversal. The rupee strengthened to around ₹94.71 against the US dollar during the session.

Sources: ScanX closing wrap; The Hindu BusinessLine market live blog; MF News Daily.