Indian share prices closed 0.60 percent higher on Monday led by strong regional markets and quarterly earnings, dealers said. They said interest was seen in large and small cap stocks with local mutual funds aggressive buyers. The 30-share Sensex index gained 63.65 points to 10,743.88. Gainers led losers 1,519 to 922 on volume of 22.71 billion rupees (488 million rupees).
The rupee was unchanged against the dollar at 46.5 and weakened marginally against the euro to 59.3 from 59.1. "The weak hands are moving out of the market and we could see a near-term rally of 500-1,000 points in the coming days," said R. Balakrishnan, a director with Parallex Consultancy Services.
"Strong first quarter earnings have brought some investors back," he said. Earnings for April-June, the first quarter for most Indian companies, were reported through July. Engineering firms showed strong gains with state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals up 77.5 rupees or 3.94 percent to 2,045.1 and Larsen and Toubro up 29.3 rupees or 1.35 percent to 2,210.95.