Benchmark Sensex jumped over 300 points in early trade on Monday, led by gains in index majors HDFC twins, L&T and Kotak Bank amid sustained foreign fund inflow and positive cues from global markets.
The BSE Sensex was trading 317.68 points or 0.84% higher at 38,358.25; while the NSE Nifty was up 92.05 points or 0.82% at 11,306.10.
M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 4%, followed by L&T, Kotak Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, ITC, Cipla, Yes Bank and HDFC duo.
Stocks of defence companies too surged after the government announced an embargo on 101 defence items. Bharat Electronics was 12% up, while Hindustan Aeronautics surged by nearly 5.5%. Bharat Forge too surged by nearly 10% to settle down and trade about 3.72% up as of 11 20am.
On the other hand, Maruti, Tata Steel and Nestle India were the laggards.
In the previous session, the Sensex had settled just 15.12 points or 0.04% higher at 38,040.57, while the Nifty rose 13.90 points or 0.12% to finish at 11,214.05.
Exchange data showed that foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 397.32 crore on a net basis on Friday.
The rupee opened on a flat note against the US dollar on Monday tracking weakness in Asian peers even as domestic equities started on a positive note.
At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened weak at 74.96, down 3 paise over its previous close of 74.93. The domestic unit, however, soon pared the losses and was trading 2 paise higher at 74.91 against the greenback.
According to traders, market sentiment was positive tracking firm cues from other Asian indices and consistent foreign fund inflow.
Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading on a positive note, while Tokyo was closed for a holiday.
Sentiment on Wall Street too, was lifted Friday by positive US jobs data, with US employers adding nearly 1.8 million jobs last month, about 185,000 more than economists had forecast.
But uncertainty overhangs the markets, with China-US trade talks planned for Friday and the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassing 5 million.
Trump issued his latest set of executive orders as Republicans and Democrats in Congress reportedly remained far apart late last week on stimulus legislation.
The move raised questions over whether it would give Americans the economic lifeline he claims and appears certain to face legal challenges. Democrats called it a pre-election ploy that would burden cash-strapped states, which are expected to pick up more of the tab for unemployment benefits.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.06% higher at USD 44.87 per barrel.
With PTI inputs