IT and PSU banking sector provided support to the stock market, Sensex rose by 326 points, Nifty also strengthened.

Mumbai, 20 March. The Indian stock market, which had seen an earthquake 24 hours ago due to the rise in crude oil prices amid the West Asia crisis, was supported by the Information Technology (IT) and PSU banking sectors and on Friday, the last day of the trading week, both the benchmark indices closed in the green.

In volatile trading, BSE Sensex gained 326 points while NSE Nifty gained 112 points. There was a good rise in the market at one time, but due to the rise in fuel prices, both the benchmark indices lost a major part of their gains amid fears of rising inflation.

Sensex rose 0.44 percent and closed at 74,532.96 points.

The 30-share sensitive index Sensex of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) closed at 74,532.96 points, up 325.72 points or 0.44 percent. At one time during trading, it had jumped 1,079.15 points or 1.45 percent to reach 75,286.39 points. Among Sensex related companies, stocks of 21 remained strong while nine declined.

Nifty increased by 112.35 points and closed at 23,114.50.

On the other hand, Nifty, the standard index based on 50 shares of National Stock Exchange (NSE), increased by 112.35 points or 0.49 percent and closed at 23,114.50 points. At one time during trading, it had climbed 343 points or 1.49 percent to reach 23,345.15. Among Nifty related companies, shares of 35 remained in the green and 15 remained weak. The BSE Midcap Select index, representing midcap companies in the broader market, rose 0.97 per cent, while the Smallcap, representing smaller companies, declined 0.32 per cent.

A look at sector wise indices

Talking about sector wise indices, BSE Public Sector Bank Index rose by 2.19 percent. Apart from this, ‘Focused’ Information Technology index rose by 2.18 percent, Information Technology by 2.08 percent, Healthcare by 1.45 percent, Metal by 1.41 percent and Energy index by 1.03 percent. However, indices related to financial services, private banks, top 10 banks of BSE, real estate sector and small and medium private banks were among the weak performers.

Tata Steel shares rose the most by 000 percent

Shares of Tata Steel rose the most by 000 percent among the companies included in the Sensex group. Apart from this, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Trent, Reliance Industries, Titan, NTPC and Sun Pharma were major gainers. The loss making stocks include HDFC Bank, Bharat Electronics, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank.

FIIs sold shares worth Rs 7,558.19 crore

According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 7,558.19 crore on Thursday. In contrast, domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 3,863.96 crore. On the other hand, global oil standard Brent crude rose by 1.88 percent to reach $ 110.7 per barrel.