Indian shares ended largely flat on Monday as gains in stocks such as HDFC Bank were offset by volatility in crude oil prices and caution ahead of the derivatives contracts' expiry later in the week. The broader NSE index ended 0.18 percent higher
while the benchmark BSE index was up 0.21 percent, with both indexes marking gains for a second straight session.
A small recovery in oil prices on account of a blizzard on the US East coast also helped relieve some of the bearish pressure which drove Indian markets last week to levels seen before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected.
India's volatility gauge VIX, which measures the local market's expectation of volatility in the near term, fell 1.5 percent on Monday.
"We need to see fresh delivery to make a conviction call that we've seen the bottom," said Gaurang Shah, vice president at Geojit BNP Paribas.
"Volatility will be there, it's expiry week and a truncated one." Indian equity markets will be closed on Tuesday on account of Republic Day.
The broader NSE index was 0.3 percent higher after rising as much as 0.87 percent earlier in the day to its highest level since January 15.
The benchmark BSE index was 0.36 percent higher after gaining as much as 0.88 percent earlier.
HDFC Bank was trading 0.9 percent higher ahead of its quarterly earnings later in the day. ICICI Bank rose 1.6 percent, while Housing Development Finance Corp gained 1.55 percent. Shares of Cairn India were up 5.3 percent after losing 5.6 percent last week due to volatile global crude prices.
SpiceJet gained 11 percent after reporting better-than-expected earnings for the December quarter on Friday.
Meanwhile, Axis Bank fell 2 percent after it issued a further clarification on its exposure to leveraged groups.