New Delhi, March 22 : The Indian stock market defied initial weakness to surge on Friday, the last trading day before Holi. After a brief dip in the opening hour, investor buying took hold, pushing both the Sensex and Nifty indices to close significantly higher.

Sensex closed the day 0.26% higher at 72,831.94 points, a gain of 190.75 points from its opening position. Nifty followed suit, ending the session 0.39% higher at 22,096.75 points, up 84.80 points from its opening level.

While the IT sector witnessed some selling pressure, all other sectoral indices closed in positive territory. The market rally was driven by strong buying in automobile, realty, and pharmaceutical stocks. The broader market also participated in the upswing, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices closing 0.38% and 1.06% higher, respectively.

Today's market boom resulted in a significant increase in investor wealth, exceeding Rs 2.25 lakh crore. The market capitalization of BSE-listed companies rose to Rs 382.24 lakh crore (provisional) after today's trading, representing a gain of about Rs 2.39 lakh crore for investors.

Active trading was witnessed across the market, with a majority of shares closing with gains. Out of the 30 Sensex constituents, 20 closed higher, while 10 closed lower. Similarly, 37 Nifty stocks closed in the green, while 13 closed in the red.