Stock market today, March 18 -- The domestic benchmark indices, Nifty 50 and Sensex, continued their upward trend for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, driven by a recovery in information technology stocks and bolstered by overall gains in Asia as oil prices saw a slight decline.

As of 11:41 IST, the Nifty 50 had risen by 0.98% to reach 23,812.30, while the BSE Sensex also increased by 1.03% to 76,857.38.

Both the Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex have gained approximately 2.5% each this week, although they are still about 6% lower for the month as investors respond to an unprecedented rise in crude oil prices caused by the US-Israeli conflict in Iran last month and its repercussions on energy markets.

Oil prices, on the other hand, dr...