India's benchmark indexes ended higher in volatile trading on Monday, as gains in technology stocks outweighed losses in auto and consumer stocks.
The blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.28% higher at 16,496.45, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.41% at 55,555.79.
The Nifty IT index ended up 1.70%, led by a 4.6% jump in shares of MindTree and HCL Technologies, which gained 4.09% after it reported a contract with global reinsurer Munich Re.
Auto stocks fell 1.47%, dragged by Tata Motors, Eicher Motors and TVS Motor Company.
Shares of India's largest private sector lender HDFC Bank ended 0.65% higher on the bank's plan to issue up to 300,000 credit cards from next month, to be scaled up to half a million in the coming months, after the central bank removed a ban imposed more than eight months ago.
Gains in frontline blue chip stocks such as HCL Tech and TCS helped lift the markets, as did positive European and western markets, Narendra Solanki, head, equity Research at Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers, said in a note.
Among global markets, European stocks opened higher on Monday and oil prices rose, breaking their seven-day losing streak. However, worries over the COVID-19 Delta variant persisted as investors weighed the possible timeline for tapering monetary stimulus.