In the Nifty50 pack, Mahindra & Mahindra led the gainers with a more than 4 per cent rise, while Axis Bank surged about 3 per cent. The domestic equity market kicked off the week on a positive note and settled higher on Monday. Buying in select pockets charged the bulls as headline indices extended their gains for the second straight session amid the positive global cues. However, gains were capped as profit booking by traders kept the rally in check. For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex gained 240.36 points, 0.38 per cent, to end the day at 62,787.47, while NSE's Nifty50 rose 59.75 points, or 0.32 per cent, to end the day at 18,593.85. Broader markets rose in tandem with headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled higher. Fear gauge India VIX rose slightly to 11.14-mark. Markets started the week with modest gains, tracking firm global cues. After the gap-up start, Nifty oscillated in a range till the end and finally settled at 18,598 levels. Meanwhile, mixed trends on the sectoral front kept the traders busy wherein auto, banking mainly private and realty posted decent gains, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking. "The rebound in the US markets has prompted this uptick but we need stability on the global front for a new high. Meanwhile, traders should continue with a stock-specific trading approach and utilize any intermediate dips or pause to accumulate quality stocks. Apart from the key sectors, one can selectively look at midcap and smallcap also, citing their prevailing outperformance," he said. On a sectoral front, Nifty Auto index surged more than a per cent, while Nifty Media, Consumer Durable and Private Bank indices gained about a per cent each. On the contrary, Nifty FMCG and IT indices were the biggest laggards. Nifty PSU Bank and Healthcare indices also settled in the red. In the Nifty50 pack, Mahindra & Mahindra led the gainers with a more than 4 per cent rise, while Axis Bank surged about 3 per cent. Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro surged 2 per cent, each. Grasim, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, IndusInd Bank, UPL and Cipla were the other key gainers on the index. Among the losers, Divis Labs, Tech Mahindra and Asian Paints dropped more than a per cent each. Nestle India, Bharat Petroleum, Hundustan Unilever, Here MotoCorp, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Eicher Motors topped among the losers, dropping a per cent, each. The equity market is maintaining stability due to a continuous stream of favourable domestic economic indicators. Stronger-than-expected domestic PMI figures, sequential growth in auto sales, and robust expansion in bank credit are instilling investor confidence in India's growth prospects, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. "On the other hand, the US jobs data presented a mixed picture, with non-farm payroll showing acceleration while the unemployment rate surged from 3.4 per cent to 3.7 per cent in May," he said. A total of 3,840 shares were traded on BSE on Monday, of which 2,170 settled with gains. 1,490 stocks ended the session higher while 180 shares remained unchanged. A total of 312 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 173 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day. In the broader markets, Hi-Tech Gear hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent, while GE Power India and Mazagaon Dock surged 18 per cent each. Indo Rama and CarTrade Tech advanced 16 per cent, each, during the day, while Tracxn Technologies settled 13 per cent up for the day. On the contrary, Emudhra dropped over 7 per cent, while Venus Remedies and Inox Wind tanked 6 per cent each. Indoco Remedies, Brightcom Group, and Manorama Industries hit a lower circuit of 5 per cent each.