Meanwhile, other Asian markets were muted on Monday as investors count down to another U.S. inflation reading that could well set the seal on an early rate hike from the Federal Reserve, lifting bond yields and punishing tech stocks. The explosion in coronavirus cases globally also threatens to crimp consumer spending and growth just as the Fed is considering turning off the liquidity spigots, tough timing for markets addicted to endless cheap money.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was near flat, while South Korea lost 0.7 per cent. Japan's Nikkei held steady for now, after falling 1.0 per cent last week, news agency Reuters reported.
Back home, buying was visible across the board as all the 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Realty index's 1.75 per cent gain.
Nifty Bank, Private Bank, PSU Bank, Oil & Gas, Consumer Durables, Media, IT, Financial Services and Auto indices also rose between 0.5-1.2 per cent.
Mid- and small-cap shares were also witnessing buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.7 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 1 per cent.
ITC was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 2.43 per cent to Rs 223.70. Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, UPL, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Coal India also rose between 0.9-2 per cent.
On the flipside, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Cipla, Shree Cements, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Divi's Labs and Hindustan Unilever were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 2,413 shares were advancing while 728 were declining on the BSE.
