Closing bell: Sensex up 225 pts, Nifty ends above 23,200

Benchmark stock market indices saw a brief respite on Wednesday session as they closed higher, fuelled by a rise in IT sector stocks which were helped amid anticipation of US inflation data.

The S&P BSE Sensex gained 224.45 points to close at 76,724.08, while the NSE Nifty50 added 371.5 points to end at 23,213.20.

NTPC led the gainers on Nifty50 with a strong surge of 4.01%, followed by Trent Limited which rose 3.86%. Power Grid Corporation showed robust momentum, climbing 2.88%, while Kotak Mahindra Bank advanced 2.14%.

Maruti Suzuki India rounded out the top gainers with a gain of 1.91%.

On the declining side, Mahindra & Mahindra faced the steepest fall of 2.90%, while Axis Bank dropped 2.53%. Bajaj Finserv declined 2.26%, followed by Bajaj Finance which fell 2.21%. Shriram Finance completed the list of major losers with a decline of 1.77%.