New Delhi, 22 December (H.S.): Indian equities extended their winning streak for a second consecutive session on Monday, the week's opening trading day, with the BSE Sensex surging 638.12 points or 0.75 percent to settle at 85,567.48 after touching an intraday peak of 671.97 points.

The NSE Nifty mirrored the rally, climbing 206 points or 0.79 percent to close above 26,000 at 26,172.40. Standouts among Sensex constituents included Trent, Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Bharat Electronics, and Maruti Suzuki India, while laggards comprised State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, and Titan.

Analysts attributed the firmness to robust domestic liquidity and positive global signals, with foreign institutional investors' capital inflows and expectations of further U.S. Federal Reserve rate cuts bolstering sentiment. Asian peers advanced, featuring South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei, China's Shanghai Composite, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng; European markets exhibited mixed trends, while Brent crude rose 0.86 percent to $60.99 per barrel.

This momentum built on Friday's close, where the Sensex gained 447.55 points or 0.53 percent to 84,929.36, and the Nifty added 150.85 points to 25,966.40.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar