SENSEX surges nearly 1,000 points, NIFTY50 reclaims 23,300; here are key things to know

The Indian equity benchmarks staged a strong rebound on Friday, March 20, after posting one of the worst days in over 20 months in the previous session. The sentiment improved overnight after crude oil prices stabilized and information technology (IT) shares came under buying interest after global IT giant Accenture raised its lower end of the revenue guidance. The SENSEX surged as much as 997 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday high of 23,320.

As of 9:36 am, the SENSEX was up 887 points at 75,094 and NIFTY50 index advanced 264 points to 23,264.

Most of the Asian markets were trading higher as crude oil prices stabilised overnight and US stocks rebounded from intraday lows. South Korea's KOSPI advanced 0.6%, China's Shanghai Composite advanced 0.2% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.3%. Japan's markets were closed on account of holiday.

Stabilising crude prices

Crude oil prices in the global market dropped to near $105 per barrel (bbl) zone during the early hours on Friday, March 20, 2026, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official statement, that the United States was not involved in the recent attacks on Iran’s key energy resources.

After surging to a high of $119.13 per bbl during the trading session on March 19, the Brent crude oil prices witnessed a relief amid the ongoing tensions in West Asia between the United States and Iran. The crude prices were just shy of hitting a fresh record high again on Thursday, however the prices did not surpass $119.50 per bbl, the previous record high level.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil prices surged past the $100 per bbl psychological mark to a high of $100.44 per bbl during Thursday’s market before cooling to its current levels on Friday along with Brent.

Buying across sectors

The sentiment also got a boost from buying in IT shares after Accenture, the IT giant, on Friday raised the lower end of the revenue guidance for financial year 2026 to 3% to 5% from its earlier guidance of 2% and 3%.

The measure of IT shares on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose as much as 2.22% with nine out of 10 constituents in the index trading higher.

Meanwhile, buying was visible across board as all the 15 major sector gauges compiled by the NSE were trading higher. NIFTY PSU Bank, Bank, Auto, Metal, Pharma, Private Bank, Realty, Healthcare, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also rose between 3.63% and 1.25%.

Broader markets were also witnessing strong buying interest as NIFTY Midcap 100 index advanced 1.7% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index gained 1.2%.

The measure of fear on NSE - India VIX dropped 3.3%.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

State Bank of India was among the top gainers in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose over 3% to ₹1,082 after SBI Mutual Fund, India's largest asset management company and a joint venture between State Bank of India and Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager, has filed draft papers with SEBI for an initial public offering (IPO).

Tata Steel, Coal India, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech and Power Grid also rose between 1.9% and 3.9%.

On the flip side, HDFC Bank, Shriram Finance, Bajaj Finance, Nestle India, HDFC Life and SBI Life were among the notable laggards in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 2,387 shares were advancing while 473 were declining on the NSE.