Mumbai, March 14 -- The headline equity indices ended with significant gains on Thursday. The Nifty managed to settle around the 22,150 mark after hitting the day's low of 21,917.50 in early trade. Oil & gas, metal and IT stocks advanced while private bank, bank and financial services shares declined. Trading was volatile due to the expiry of weekly index options on the NSE.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 335.39 points or 0.46% to 73,097.28. The Nifty 50 index added 148.95 points or 0.68% to 22,146.65.

The broader market outperformed the key indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 2.28% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap surged 3.11%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,731 shares rose...