The NSE index ended at a record closing high on Monday, while the rupee strengthened to its highest in nearly 1-1/2 years as the sentiment was lifted by a surge in foreign investments last month betting on government reforms and an improving economy.
The broader NSE index gained 64.1 points or 0.7 per cent to end at a record closing high of 9,237.85. The index hit an intraday high of 9,245.35 earlier, surpassing last month's high.
The benchmark BSE index closed up 289.72 points or 0.98 per cent at a record closing high of 29,910.22. The index had hit a record high of 30,024.74 in March 2015.
Among BSE sectoral indices, capital goods index was the star-performer and was up 3.47 per cent, healthcare 1.05 per cent, infrastructure 0.86 per cent and oil & gas 0.77 per cent. On the other hand, TECk index was down 0.93 per cent and IT 0.86 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were L&T (+5.26%), Dr Reddy's (+4.32%), Reliance (+3.94%), ICICI Bank (+3.48%) and GAIL (+2.28%), while the major losers were Bharti Airtel (-2.37%), Wipro (-1.6%), Infosys (-1.11%), Bajaj Auto (-0.87%) and TCS (-0.73%).
FII buying
Data out on Friday showed overseas investors bought a net $8.84 billion worth of Indian shares and bonds during March, the biggest monthly total since at least 2002, according to stocks depository services provider NSDL.
Foreign flows surged after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling party won key state elections last month, bolstering hopes for additional economic reforms just as the government gears up to unveil a national goods and services tax later this year.
Investors have also been encouraged by signs the economy may not have been hit as hard by India's shock action to remove high-value bank notes from circulation last year.
Meanwhile, activity in India's manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in five months in March as output and new orders accelerated, a private survey showed on Monday.
“It's a combination of FII (foreign institutional investor) liquidity, which is back, and the general atmosphere is as positive as can be for the market,” said Jayant Manglik, president of retail distribution at Religare Securities.
The rupee strengthened to as much as 64.7650 per dollar, its strongest since October 2015, from its previous close of 64.8550.