Stock market today, March 18 -- The key benchmark indices of the Indian stock market extended their uptrend for the second straight session on Tuesday. The Nifty 50 index finished 172 points higher at 23,581. The BSE Sensex shot up 567 points and regained the psychological 76,000 level on a closing basis. The Bank Nifty index gained 462 points and closed at 54,876.

Among sectors, Metal, Auto, and Capital Market indices rallied by over 2%, whereas, despite strong market momentum, profit booking in IT stocks led the IT index to shed nearly 1%.

The Gift Nifty live is trading in the green zone. The Gift Nifty futures is trading around 23,640, marginally higher from the Indian Gift Nifty futures close of 23,613 on Tuesday. The Japanese Nikke...