Closing Bell: Sensex surges over 1%, Nifty nears 17500

Domestic equity bourses Sensex and Nifty grew on initial gains after a gap-up start on Wednesday amid positivity across global markets. Buying in financial, auto and IT shares pushed the benchmark indices higher.

The Indian equity indices extended the winning run for the third straight session after signs of progress in Ukraine-Russia peace talks. Most global markets reacted positively to Russia's assurance to scale down its military operations in Ukraine's capital Kyiv and surrounding regions. Thus, leading the domestic indices to close higher for the third consecutive session.

At the closing bell on March 30, the Sensex was up 740.34 points or 1.28% at 58,683.99, and the Nifty was up 173 points or 1% at 17,498.30. On the market breadth, around 2001 shares have advanced, 1213 shares declined, and 93 shares are unchanged.

Top Nifty gainers of the day include Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Life, Tata Consumer Products, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp. On the flip side, top Nifty losers were ONGC, Hindalco, JSW Steel, ITC and Tata Steel.

On the sectoral front auto, IT, bank, capital goods and realty indices rose 1% each, while the metal index shed nearly 3%, oil & gas index slipped 0.8%, whereas the power index fell 0.4%. In the broad market, the BSE midcap and smallcap indices were up 0.8-1%.

In the trending stocks, Tata Consumer Products jumped 3% to Rs 765.50 after deciding that it would merge Tata Coffee with itself. Tata Coffee stock surged as much as 8.54% to Rs 213.

Among the top laggards, stocks of Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) slipped 5.38% to Rs 161.80 after the oil producer said the Central Government would sell a stake of up to 1.5% in the company.