New Delhi, 20 March (H.S.): Domestic equity markets ended the day on a strong note after a choppy session marked by intraday profit‑booking pressure. Though both the Sensex and Nifty slipped from their day‑highs—by 901 points and 275 points respectively—robust buying later in the day supported market sentiment, with the benchmark indices closing up.

Sensex ended 325.70 points higher at 74,532.96, reflecting a 0.44% gain, while the Nifty‑50 settled at 23,114.50, up 112.35 points or 0.49%. The day‑high to day‑low swings were sharp: Sensex touched an intraday peak of 75,286.39 and later dipped to 74,385.04; the Nifty momentarily dropped to 23,067.60 before regaining ground.

Despite the swings, both gauges stayed in the green throughout the session.Broadly positive trend supported investors’ wealth. The combined market capitalisation of BSE‑listed companies rose from about ₹426.13 lakh crore on Thursday to an estimated ₹429.23 lakh crore by the end of today’s trade. This implies a net addition of around ₹3.10 lakh crore to investor wealth in a single session.

Automobile, IT and metal stocks led the rally, while realty and banking shares were among the weaker pockets. Midcap and smallcap indices also ended in the green, with Nifty Midcap‑100 rising 0.67% and Nifty Smallcap‑100 edging up 0.09%. On BSE, about 2,454 out of 4,432 active stocks ended up, versus 1,814 declines; on NSE, 1,721 out of 2,979 active counters closed higher.

Among large caps, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, Coal India and Infosys were among the top gainers, rising roughly 2.8–3.4%. On the other side, Hindalco Industries, HDFC Bank, HDFC Life, ONGC and Shriram Finance slipped modestly, making the day’s top decliners list.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar