Indian share markets moved on an upward trajectory on Monday as buying in banking and financial stocks gained momentum.  Amid contained Covid-19 infections, Budget boost, and economic revival, frontline indices gained over 1 percent today while midcap stocks outperformed their large-cap peers.

The frontline BSE    Sensex closed above the 52,000-mark for the first time on gains of 610 points, or 1.18 percent, at 52,154 levels. In the intra-day trade, the index hit a record high of 52,177.5 levels. Axis Bank ended the day as top gainer on the index, followed by gains in ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC, IndusInd Bank, and HDFC Bank, all up between 2 percent and 4 percent.  However, losses in TCS, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tech Mahindra, HUL, Asian Paints, and HCL Tech, all down up to 1.8 percent, capped gains.

NSE's Nifty50, on the other hand, hit a record high of 15,327 levels in the intra-day trade before ending at 15,315-mark, up 151 points or 1 percent. . SBI Life, HDFC Life, TCS, Dr Reddy's Labs, Grasim, and Tech M were the top losers on the index.

On the sectoral front, the Nifty Bank index stole the show and hit a new peak of 37,309 levels, up 1,200 points in the intra-day trade. The index closed 1,197 points,  higher at 37,306 levels. That apart, the Nifty Financial Services index and the Private Bank index ended nearly 3 percent higher each. On the downside, the Nifty IT and Metal indices closed 0.4 percent lower.

Global shares rose for the 11th day in a row to hit a fresh peak on optimism about the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and new fiscal aid from Washington, while tensions in the Middle East drove oil to a 13-month high.

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