Mumbai, March 22: The Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex closed 697 points higher in volatile trading on Tuesday, led by strong buying support in heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and TCS.

The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 57,989.30 points, 696.81 points or 1.22 per cent higher from its previous day's close at 57,292.49 points. Sensex Crashes 1,500 Points, Trades at 52,823; Nifty at 15,820.

Earlier, the Sensex opened marginally higher at 57,297.57 points but soon slipped into negative. The Sensex traded in the negative till around 1 pm. However, it witnessed a strong rally towards the end of the trading session.

The Sensex touched a high of 58,052.87 points and a low of 56,930.30 points in the intra-day. The Sensex had lost 571.44 points or 0.99 per cent on Monday.

The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange soared 197.90 points or 1.16 per cent to 17,315.50 points from its previous day's close at 17,117.60 points. The Nifty had lost 169.45 points or 0.98 per cent on Monday.

The index heavyweight Reliance Industries surged 2.59 per cent to Rs 2531.10 after petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each. Retail prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked after 137 days of freeze.

There was strong buying support in IT stocks. Tech Mahindra surged 3.83 per cent to Rs 1538.45. TCS surged 2.09 per cent to Rs 3700.95. Infosys rose 1.87 per cent to Rs 1887.30. Wipro rose 1.62 per cent to Rs 609.90.

Bajaj Finserv 2.46 per cent higher at Rs 16574.85; ITC 2.21 per cent higher at Rs 249.80; Kotak Bank 1.88 per cent higher at Rs 1808.65; Power Grid Corporation 1.85 per cent higher at Rs 208.70 and Bajaj Finance 1.67 per cent higher at Rs 6985 were among the major Sensex gainers.

Only four of the 30 Sensex scrips closed in the red. Hindustan Unilever slumped 2.81 per cent to Rs 1993.80. Nestle India dipped 2.49 per cent to Rs 17415.65. NTPC and Sun Pharma also closed in the red.

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