The Sensex began trading cautiously but made big gains as the session went on...

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The Sensex began trading cautiously but made big gains as the session went on...

Digital Desk: The Indian equity indexes Sensex and Nifty gained for the second day in a row on Monday, as investors were reassured following the government's upbeat appraisal of the economic condition.

The Sensex began trading cautiously but made big gains as the session went on, reaching the day's high of above 59,300. The 30-share index finished the session at 59,246—up 443 points or 0.75 percent.

The NSE Nifty also increased by 126 points, or 0.72 percent, to conclude the day at 17,666; this was its second straight session of advances.

The top gainers on the Sensex chart included Sun Pharma, ITC, NTPC, Reliance, Tata Steel, and HCL Tech. The Sensex breadth was comfortably in favour of buyers, with 24 equities closing in the green.

Asian Paint, HUL, Wipro, Nestle, Ultratech Cement, and PowerGrid all finished with mild losses.

The midcap and large cap broader BSE indices underperformed the benchmark Sensex. The small-cap index had a better performance, rising by 0.89 percent.

"Concerns about the global economy, which is struggling with high inflation and recession, were stoked by mixed job data from the US and a worsening energy situation in Europe. Strong employment in the US will give Fed the confidence to raise interest rates by another 50–75 bps in the forthcoming policy meetings," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services."

In anticipation of a decrease in output, oil prices increased prior to the OPEC+ summit, he said. "Meanwhile, none of these has impacted the domestic market, which continues to hold an upbeat outlook, bolstered by strengthening local economic statistics and rising corporate demand."

On Monday, oil prices increased by more than $2 a barrel as investors anticipated potential actions by OPEC+ producers to reduce output and boost prices at a meeting later in the day.

After gaining by 0.7% on Friday, Brent crude futures increased by $2.43, or 2.6%, to $95.45 a barrel. After rising by 0.3% the day before, US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $2.21, or 2.5%, at $89.08.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity bourses closed with losses on Monday while the euro took a fresh spill after Russia shut a major gas pipeline to Europe, leading some governments there to announce emergency measures to ease the pain of soaring energy prices.