The Indian stock market fell deeper into the red, with Sensex and Nifty extending sharp losses as soaring oil prices along with other factors that spooked investors.

Sensex dropped around 630 points to trade near 72,600, down more than 1,100 pts day's high, while Nifty 50 plunged around 260 points to drop below 22,450 on Friday morning. The sharp drop wiped off nearly Rs 10 lakh crore from the total market capitalisation of all companies listed on BSE, pulling it down below Rs 4.49 lakh crore.

Tata Steel, Adani Ports, BEL, Titan, NTPC, IndiGo, Bajaj Finserv, Trent, HUL, SBI, Maruti Suzuki and M&M shares fell around 2-4% each to lead losses on Sensex. UltraTech Cement, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and Kotak Mahindra Bank shares followed, dropping over 1% each.

Broader markets crashed sharply, with Nifty Smallcap 100 index plunging around 4% while Nifty Midcap 100 index tumbled around 3%. Among the sectors, Nifty Metal, Nifty Realty and Nifty Consumer Durables dropped over 3% each while Nifty PSU Bank index was down over 2%. Only Nifty IT was trading in the green with marginal gains.

The overall market breadth strongly favoured the bears, with NSE seeing 3,081 declines against 297 advances, while 77 stocks remained unchanged.

Here are the key factors pushing the market down today.

Oil prices jumped to $114 per barrel as Houthi attacks on top exporter Saudi Arabia raised concerns over further disruptions to energy supplies. Saudi Aramco ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran, on the Gulf near Bahrain, as fighting intensified between the world's largest crude exporter and Yemen-based Houthis. Clashes between the Iran-aligned Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen's internationally recognised government have continued as the group advanced towards Bab el-Mandeb, a shipping chokepoint at the entrance to the Red Sea.

The New York Times reported that the US and Israeli militaries have drawn up specific plans for renewed strikes against Iran after the American midterm elections, citing US officials and others briefed on the discussions. The boiling oil prices following brief consolidation is spooking investors on Dalal Street.

Foreign investors remained net sellers of Indian equities on Thursday, net selling shares worth nearly Rs 3,459 crore. This comes after FIIs net bought Rs 1,407 crore Indian equities on Wednesday, before selling more than double that amount in the next day.

FIIs have remained net sellers of Indian equities in 11 out of 14 sessions in October so far. Overall, the selloff intensified since last month, following a brief trend reversal.

More to come...