Indian equity benchmarks shimmered on Monday tracking gains in banking, financial services, metal and realty stocks.

The BSE closed 508 points higher at 48,386.51 and Nifty 50 index advanced 144 points to close at 14,485. Gainers - Axis Bank (+4%), JSW Steel, Ultratech Cement surges over 3% each. While Losers include Cipla, Britannia, HCL Tech dives nearly 3% each. 

All the 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange, except for pharma shares, ended higher led by the Nifty Realty index's nearly 4 percent gain. Nifty Bank, Metal,  Financial Services, PSU Bank and Private Bank indices also rose over 1 percent each.

Mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.8 percent and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index climbed over a percent.

ICICI Bank shares soared more than 6 percent to top the gainer's list on the BSE after the private sector bank reported a 260.5 percent year-on-year (YoY) growth in standalone profit at ₹ 4,402.61 crore for quarter ended March 2021. The profit in the corresponding period last year stood at ₹ 1,221.4 crore.

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