New Delhi, 18 March (H.S.):

Indian equity benchmarks opened higher on Wednesday, with the Sensex and Nifty posting gains despite early volatility driven by tussles between buyers and sellers.At 10:00 AM, the BSE Sensex climbed 355.59 points, or 0.47%, to 76,426.43, while the NSE Nifty rose 108.40 points, or 0.47%, to 23,689.55.

The Sensex opened at 76,367.55, up 296.71 points, peaked at 76,609.46 on buying support, then dipped to 76,187.92 amid selling pressure before recovering (verified via BSE/NSE live data archives on Google Finance).Similarly, the Nifty started at 23,632.90, up 51.75 points, hit a high of 23,754.65, and briefly fell to 23,618.45 before stabilizing.

Heavyweights led the rally: TCS, Jio Financial Services, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, and Infosys surged 2.38%–2.95%. Coal India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Hindalco Industries, and Tata Steel gained 0.29%–1.17%.Of 2,708 active stocks, 2,331 traded in the green, while 377 were in the red.

In the Sensex's 30 constituents, 25 advanced and 5 declined; in the Nifty 50, 41 rose and 9 fell.This follows Tuesday's close, when the Sensex ended 567.99 points (0.75%) higher at 76,070.84, and the Nifty gained 172.35 points (0.74%) at 23,581.15.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar