New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, two key equity benchmarks, on Monday extended gains for the third straight session, led by strong buying in FMCG and IT stocks amid positive global cues.
The 30-share BSE Sensex zoomed 1,041 points or 1.90 per cent to close at 55,926, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 309 points or 1.89 per cent up to settle at 16,661.
On the BSE platform, among individual stocks, Titan, Infosys, M&M, L&T, Reliance Industries, HCL Tech, TCS, and Tech M were the lead gainers, rallying between 3 per cent and 5 per cent. Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Bharti Airtel, and HDFC, meanwhile, added over 1.5 per cent each.
In the broader markets, midcap and smallcap shares finished on a strong note as Nifty midcap 100 climbed 2.42 per cent and smallcap moved 3.08 per cent higher.
On the NSE, all of the 15 sector gauges settled in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty IT outperformed the platform by rising as much as 4.22 per cent and 3.88 per cent, respectively.
The Sensex soared 632 points (1.17 per cent) to settle at 54,884.66 on Friday, while the Nifty surged 182 points (1.13 per cent) to end at 16,352.
Shares of Ethos ended at Rs 802 per share, down 8.6 per cent as against its issue price of Rs 878, on the BSE.
European stocks advanced on Monday as the US dollar weakened. The pan-European Stoxx 600 added 0.8 per cent in early trade, with tech stocks climbing 2.5 per cent to lead gains. Markets in the US are closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 added 2.3 per cent, and South Korea's Kospi gained 1.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.48 per cent to $120 per barrel.
According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,943.10 crore on Friday.