Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS): The Indian benchmark indices closed in green on Monday with a strong start for the week, as buying was seen in realty, banking, and IT stocks.

The BSE Sensex closed at 81,973.05, rising 591.69 points or 0.73 per cent.

NSE Nifty closed at 25,127.95 after rising 163.70 points or 0.66 per cent.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index closed in the green mark at 59,465.45 after rising 252.75 points or 0.43 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed at 26,197.90 after rising 143.80 points or 0.55 per cent.

Buying was seen in Nifty's realty, IT, financial services, private banks, auto, PSU banks, pharma, and FMCG sectors. At the same time, there was pressure on the media, metal, and oil and gas sectors.

The market trend remained positive.

On the BSE, 1,952 shares were trading in green and 1,919 shares in red. About 140 shares closed without any change.

Wipro, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Life, L&T, and HDFC Bank were among the top gainers of Nifty. ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Steel, and Bajaj Finance were the top losers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) increased their selling on October 11 and sold equities worth Rs 4,162.66 crore. On the other hand, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also increased their buying and they bought equities worth Rs 3,730.87 crore on the same day.

According to market experts, optimism around potential RBI rate cuts, driven by strong domestic tax collections, further boosted sentiment. Investors are closely monitoring upcoming earnings reports from major companies, including Infosys, and the highly-anticipated Hyundai Motor India IPO.

"Globally, the focus remains on the third-quarter earnings season and the upcoming European Central Bank rate decision, with US stock futures and European shares edging higher," said Vikram Kasat from Prabhudas Lilladher.

Trade analysts said that on the daily charts, "we can observe that the Nifty has resumed its up-move towards 25,500 after a brief three-day consolidation".