Indian equity benchmarks extended the previous session’s momentum on March 17, with the Nifty 50 closing comfortably above 23,550, amid buying across the sectors barring FMCG, IT names.

Amid uncertainty surrounding the ongoing US-Iran conflict with rising crude oil prices, the market traded volatile during the initial hour of trade, however, sentiment improved as the session progressed. The indices witnessed mid-session profit booking, but sustained buying interest helped bulls regain control, leading the market to close near the day’s high.

At close, the Sensex was up 567.99 points or 0.75 percent at 76,070.84, and the Nifty was up 172.35 points or 0.74 percent at 23,581.15.

Broader indices performed in line with the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 rising 1 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 added nearly 0.65 percent.

Eternal, Tata Steel, M&M, HDFC Life and Bharat Electronics were among top gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Wipro, Tata Consumer, Infosys, Cipla, ITC.

Among sectors, except FMCG ( down 0.7%) and IT (down 1%), all other indices ended in the green with capital goods, telecom, auto, infra, media, metal, realty, private bank up 1-2 percent.

In stock specific, Andhra Cements shares rose 4% as promoter will sale stake, Axiscades Technologies shares gained 5% on acquiring balance 24% stake in Cades Studec Technologies India, Bajaj Electricals share price shed 5% on acquiring intellectual property and brand rights of Morphy Richards, Omaxe share price rose 4.2% on RERA Registration Certificates for two projects.


More than 340 stocks touched their 52-week low, including Cello World, Tata Elxsi, Relaxo Footwear, Jyothy Labs, Wipro, C E Info Systems, AAVAS Financier, Newgen Software, Infosys, Cipla, Gujarat State Petro, Oracle Financial Services, Coforge, TCS, Bata India, Tata Technologies, Mastek, Sonata Software, SBI Card, among others.