The Sensex and the Nifty gained over 0.5 per cent at the closing session on Monday.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex ended at 22,764.83, up 135.99 points and the Nifty ended at 6,817.65, up 38.25 points.

Barring IT, FMCG, realty and TECk, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the green. Among them, capital goods and metal indices were the star-performers and were up 2.91 per cent and 2.23 per cent, respectively, followed by banking 1.34 per cent and auto 1.33 per cent. On the other hand, IT index was down 0.68 per cent, followed by FMCG 0.39 per cent, realty 0.28 per cent and TECk 0.18 per cent.

SSLT, L&T, M&M, BHEL and Bharti Airtel were the top five Sensex gainers, while the top five losers were Wipro, HUL, ITC, Sun Pharma and HDFC.

Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Germany are closed today for the Easter holiday.

Tensions in Ukraine, signs of slowing growth in China and uncertainty over when the US Federal Reserve would begin to tighten the interest rates have dampened the global sentiment in recent weeks, although Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments last week helped soothe investors' nerves.

Yellen has reiterated the bank’s commitment to supporting the US recovery. Manufacturing will take centre stage this week, with the US projected to fare better, while data from China will probably signal a continued slowdown in factory activity.

Reports on the American housing market and preliminary factory data for April are due to be released this week.

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