Equity indices made a strong start to the week on Monday with the Sensex and Nifty closing at a near four-month high, tracking gains in index majors HDFC twins and Reliance Industries amid positive global market trends.

The 30-share benchmark Sensex climbed 465.14 points, or 0.80 per cent, to finish at 58853.07 — its highest closing since April 11 this year.

The broader NSE Nifty gained 127.60 points, or 0.73 per cent, to end at 17525.10.

“Sustained FII buying and falling oil prices are the major drivers for the ongoing market rally. Heavyweights played a significant role in today’s rise, while PSU banks remained under pressure following weak results of the PSB major (SBI),” said Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services.On the global front, markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Tokyo ended higher, while Hong Kong settled with losses. European bourses were trading in the green during mid-session deals.

Rupee falls

The rupee depreciated by 39 paise to close at 79.63 against the US currency on Monday, pressured by dollar demand and waning risk appetite among investors. Lower crude oil prices and a rally in domestic equities restricted the losses to some extent.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the domestic currency opened weak at79.50 per dollar. It oscillated between a high of 79.45 and a low of 79.65 during the session. It finally settled at 79.63, down 39 paise over its previous close of 79.24.

Paytm shares jump

Shares of Indian digital payments firm Paytm jumped more than 6 per cent on Monday to their highest levels in nearly six months, after the company’s parent firm One97 Communications Ltd posted an 89 per cent surge in its quarterly revenue. The company’s wider loss of Rs 644crore did not affect investor sentiment.

SoftBank loss

SoftBank has reported its largest ever quarterly loss, $23.4billion, driven by poor performance of its flagship tech investments and a weak yen.

This was the second straight quarter of enormous losses for the company.