Mumbai, March 6 -- The key equity indices ended with significant gains on Thursday, rising for the second consecutive session. The Nifty ended above the 22,500 level. Barring the Nifty Realty index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the green. Trading was volatile due to the weekly Nifty50 F&O series expiry today.

As per provisional closing, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 609.86 points, or 0.83%, to 74,349.09. The Nifty 50 index added 207.40 points, or 0.93%, to 22,544.70.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.65%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.63%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,002 shares rose and 993 shares fell. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's I...