Indian shares closed at their highest level in six weeks on Monday led by blue-chips such as Larsen and Toubro, which gained after the company signed an agreement with France's Areva for nuclear power projects, while firm cues across the region also helped.
The Sensex finished 165.06 points or 0.57 per cent at 29,044.44 while the NSE Nifty rose 53.65 points or 0.61 per cent to 8,834.
Both indexes closed at their highest level since March 3.
Indian markets will be closed for a public holiday on Tuesday.
Overall sentiment remained positive as markets across the region gained as weak Chinese trade data intensified expectations for more economic stimulus measures from Beijing.
Investors will keenly watch consumer inflation numbers, due later in the day. Consumer prices likely rose to 5.5 per cent in March from a year earlier compared with February's 5.37 per cent, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Corporate earnings, expected to start this week, will be the next medium-term trigger for the markets, analysts said.
"I think markets will trade in a range with a positive bias. Earnings and policy decisions will continue to be the key drivers. We are bullish, especially in infrastructure and power sectors," said Suresh Parmar, head, institutional equities at KJMC Capital Markets.
Nifty gainers were led by Idea, Bharti Airtel, BHEL, Sun Pharma and Cairn.
Nifty losers included M&M, ACC, Tata Motors, GAIL and Sesa Sterlite.
Infrastructure stocks such as Larsen and Toubro led the gains. L&T gained 2.07 per cent after it signed an MoU with France's Areva SA for the Jaitapur nuclear power plant in Maharashtra.
Shares in Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd gained 3.26 per cent after it said it commissioned a 600 MW thermal power project in Chhattisgarh.
However, GAIL India Ltd fell 1.04 per cent to Rs 395 after Credit Suisse downgraded the stock to "underperform" from "neutral".
Barring Auto and Realty, all the BSE sectoral indices ended higher.
Consumer durables, capital goods, health care, and FMCG were the best performers.
The Nifty and the Sensex opened marginally in the green with market-men circumspect ahead of the fourth quarter earnings season. The Nifty opened 22 points up at 8,802 while the Sensex opened 76 points up at 28,955.
European shares
European shares dipped in early trading on Monday, halting their recent sharp rally, following poor economic figures from China. UK's FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 per cent, Germany's DAX index down 0.3 per cent, and France's CAC 40 down 0.1 per cent.
Asian markets
A rally in China's stock markets to seven-year highs on Monday kept an index of Asian shares near its highest level since September, as weak Chinese trade data intensified expectations for more economic stimulus measures from Beijing. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan erased early losses and was up about 0.4 per cent. That moved it back toward its highest levels since September, touched in the previous week.