The Indian stock market ended Friday’s session, March 20, in positive territory but erased a large part of its intraday gains amid profit booking. Still, the benchmarks recouped some of the previous day’s sharp sell-off—the worst intraday fall in two years.
Select sectors such as IT, PSUs, and pharma supported the indices, while the sell-off in real estate stocks deepened further. Consequently, the Nifty 50 closed 0.50% higher at 23,114. At one point, the index had jumped as much as 1.5% to hit the day’s high.
Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex also ended the session at 74,544, up 0.45% from the previous close. On a weekly basis, both indices have remained in the red for the fourth consecutive week.
In terms of sectoral performance, Nifty IT emerged as the top performer, rallying 2.17%, while Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma also gained over 2%. This was followed by Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto, which rose 1.45% and 0.84%, respectively.
Although tensions in the Middle East remained elevated, crude oil prices stabilised. Brent crude futures fell to $105 per barrel earlier in the day after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reportedly said Washington may soon lift sanctions on Iranian crude stored aboard tankers, in an attempt to offset supply pressures caused by Iran’s seizure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The relief also came after Israel’s Prime Minister reportedly said there would be no further attacks on Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure. Earlier, both the IEA and the US had indicated they would release emergency crude reserves, but that did little to curb the rally in oil prices.
According to media reports, the leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan said in a joint statement on Thursday that they are “ready to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz.”
Brainbees, Happiest Minds lead gains; metals, IT shine
Brainbees Solutions emerged as the top performer among Nifty 500 stocks, jumping 19.4% to ₹250 apiece, while Happiest Minds Technologies saw its share price rally 10.6% to ₹410.9 apiece.
Olectra Greentech was another top gainer, with the stock ending 9.7% higher at ₹1,097.4 apiece. Likewise, Ola Electric wrapped up the session at ₹24.7 apiece, up 5% from the previous close.
Among metal stocks, Lloyds Metals & Energy, Jindal Steel, Hindustan Copper, and Tata Steel advanced 5.1%, 4.3%, 4%, and 3.3%, respectively. In the IT space, Oracle Financial Services, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Persistent Systems, LTIMindtree, and Mphasis gained between 2% and 3.3%.
Pharma stocks also saw a strong recovery, with Laurus Labs rising 4.5%, while Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Aurobindo Pharma, Biocon, Lupin, and J B Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals gained between 2.6% and 4%.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Idea closed 4.5% higher at ₹9.3 apiece after monthly telecom data showed that the company’s subscriber losses narrowed significantly in January 2026 compared to the previous month.
In addition, power stocks witnessed strong buying interest, with counters such as Reliance Power, Tata Power, Suzlon Energy, and NTPC rising between 1% and 3.8%. All three OMCs—HPCL, IOCL, and BPCL—also ended higher by 3.54%, 1.31%, and 0.63%, respectively.
