Mumbai, Aug 25 : The Indian benchmark indices opened the week with gains on Monday, as IT stocks led the rally after a potential rate cut in the US boosted investors' sentiment.

The BSE Sensex gained 251.41 points, or 0.31 per cent to touch 81,558. The Nifty 50 inched up 71 points, or 0.29 per cent up to 24,941.

Sector-wise, the Nifty IT index led the gains with 1.77 per cent surge followed by Nifty Metal index up 0.88 per cent. The majority of other indices showed moderate gains.

In the Nifty pack, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Hindalco and NTPC were the major gainers. ICICI Bank, Apollo Hospital, Jio Financial and Maruti Suzuki were the major laggards.

According to analysts, technically, Nifty is hovering near its short-term support at 24,840, which aligns with the 50-day EMA.

'A breakdown below this level could drag the index toward 24,650 and further down to the broader support zone of 24,500. The near term resistance is seen in the 25,150'25,350 zone," said Amruta Shinde from Choice Equity Broking.

With major events in the United States scheduled for the coming days, traders largely sat on their hands.

'Nifty broke out of the channel, but selling pressure was seen around its resistance zone of 24,950 to 25,000, and 24,600 to 24,673 will be an important support zone in the near term,' added Vikram Kasat, Head-Advisory, PL Capital.

The Jackson Hole Symposium that concluded on August 23 saw US Fed Chairman Powell hint at potential rate cuts, boosting optimism for FPI inflows into India.

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose on Monday. The US markets had shown strong gains on Friday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 1.89 per cent, while the Nasdaq advanced by 1.88 per cent and the S&P 500 gained 1.52 per cent.

The Asian markets opened the week in green, as China's Shanghai index rose 0.59 per cent, Japan's Nikkei was up 0.68 per cent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.93 per cent. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.89 per cent.

On August 22, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Indian equities worth Rs 1,622 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 329 crore.

/IANS