Mumbai, March 7 : The Indian stock market saw a volatile trading session on Friday, with benchmark indices managing to stay in the positive territory.

Gains in metal stocks provided support, while smallcap stocks continued their strong rally. This was followed by two consecutive day bull run, when the share market closed in green.

The Sensex ended at 74,332.58, down by just 7.51 points or 0.01 per cent. During the intra-day session, the 30-share index moved between a high of 74,586.43 and a low of 74,038.03.

The Nifty, however, managed to end slightly higher, gaining 7.80 points or 0.03 per cent to close at 22,552.50. The index touched a high of 22,633.80 during the day but also slipped to an intra-day low of 22,464.75.

The indices opened weak but recovered as buying interest emerged in select blue-chip stocks, including Tata Motors.

Oil and gas stocks also contributed to the recovery. Broader markets outperformed, with the smallcap index rising by 1.1 per cent, marking its fourth consecutive session of gains.

'Today's market strength was driven by a broad-based recovery, with Nifty 50 stabilising near fair valuations, while mid and small-caps saw continued buying after recent corrections,' said Krishna Appala from Capitalmind Research.

Sustaining this rally depends on earnings recovery and broader market sentiment, the expert added.

Among the top gainers in the Nifty pack were Tata Motors, Bharat Electronics, Nestle India, and Bajaj Auto.

However, some IT and banking stocks faced mild selling pressure which includes IndusInd Bank, Shriram Finance, NTPC, BPCL and Infosys.

In the broader market, the Nifty Smallcap100 index continued its upward trend, closing 0.67 per cent higher. However, the Nifty Midcap100 index slipped by 0.32 per cent.

Sectoral performance on the NSE was mixed. Nifty Auto, PSU Bank, Metal, Media, and Oil & Gas indices saw gains of up to 1.83 per cent, while other sectors remained subdued.

Over the past week, the Nifty gained 2.1 per cent, while the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 250 surged 2.9 per cent and 5.8 per cent, respectively.

/IANS