Stocks on Monday cheered the scheduled roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines in the country by the end of this week and the strong start to the quarterly earnings season. The benchmark Sensex crossed the 49,000 mark for the first time, and is now within striking distance of the 50,000 milestone.
The Sensex rose 487 points, or 1 per cent, to end the session at 49,269, while the Nifty closed at 14,484, a gain of 137 points, or 0.9 per cent. IT stocks were the top gainers and contributed the most towards the Sensex's gains.
Indian stocks continue to be the beneficiaries of benign foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows amid signs of recovery in the economy. FPIs bought stocks worth Rs 3,139 crore on Monday. Domestic institutional investors, on the other hand, sold shares worth Rs 2,610 crore.