Indian equity benchmarks rose more than two percent for the week ended March 11, helped by sharp gains in IT, pharma and metal shares. The weekly gain for both Sensex and Nifty50 came after four back-to-back weekly losses -- their longest losing streak in two years.

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For the week, the 30-scrip index gained 1,216.5 points or 2.2 percent to finish at 55,550.3 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark added 385.1 points or 2.4 percent to settle at 16,630.5.

Broader markets also strengthened, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index clocking a weekly gain of 2.5 percent. The smallcap index surged 4.2 percent.

Sentiment remained weak globally as investors tracked newsflow on the Russia-Ukraine war. Fluctuations in crude oil and fears of earlier-and-more-aggressive tightening of pandemic-era monetary policies continued to send jitters across the world's financial markets.

Global benchmark Brent crude touched a 14-year peak of $139 a barrel before retreating more than 15 percent.

Back home, with the Assembly polls in five states now behind, the focus is likely to shift to global cues, once again. The Federal Reserve and the Bank of England are due to decide on key rates in meetings scheduled next week.

Recent data showed US consumer inflation hit a 40-year high, fuelling concerns about rate hikes.

"The negative mood was reversed as the results of the state election turned positive for the market and oil prices started to cool off. The Indian market witnessed increased optimism in the progress of high level talks between Russia and Ukraine and a surge in the global markets," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"Inflation levels in India and abroad are poised to rise even higher in March, though on a temporary basis, considering the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict," he said.

FIIs net sold Indian shares worth Rs 24,688.4 crore during the week, though DIIs made net purchases of Rs 17,729.1 crore, according to provisional exchange data.

All of NSE's sectoral indices finished in the green, with the Nifty Media, Healthcare, Pharma and IT being the biggest gainers -- rising between 3.4 percent and 6.7 percent.

Among the more modest gainers was the Nifty Bank, which rose 0.4 percent, following its worst week in 18 months.

As many as 39 stocks on the Nifty50 finished the week in the green, with Cipla, Indian Oil, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer being the top weekly gainers. The biggest blue-chip laggards were Britannia, Axis Bank and Eicher Motors.

About 390 stocks in the NSE 500 universe -- the stock exchange's broadest index -- finished above the flatline.

In the midcap and smallcap segments, BSE, Gujarat Ambuja, HEG, IOC Cements and JK Paper -- soaring 17-29 percent -- were the top gainers. On the contrary, JK Cement, Elgi Equipments, Jindal Steel, Wockhardt and Future Retail -- suffering cuts to the tune of 7-13 percent -- were the top losers.