Equity benchmarks started the first day of trade of the New Year on a positive note and ended with smart gains, propelled by buying in index majors Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank amid a firm trend in European markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 327.05 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 61,167.79 on Monday. During the day, it jumped 382.05 points or 0.62 per cent to 61,222.79.

The broader NSE Nifty advanced 92.15 points or 0.51 per cent to end at 18,197.45.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, NTPC and Bharti Airtel were the prominent winners.

However, Asian Paints, Titan, Tech Mahindra, Nestle and Hindustan Unilever were among the major laggards.

Robust GST collections last month indicate resilience of the economy, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The collections from Goods and Services Tax (GST) grew 15 per cent to Rs 1.49 lakh crore in December 2022, indicating improved manufacturing output and consumption demand, besides better compliance.

India's manufacturing sector activity rose to a 13-month high in December, supported by healthy inflows of new business and strong demand conditions, according to a monthly survey.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul ended lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading in the green in mid-session deals. Markets in the US had ended lower on Friday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 2.94 per cent to USD 85.91 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 2,950.89 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

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