Mumbai, Jan 20 : Ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th President amid good Q3 earnings, the Indian benchmark indices on Monday closed the day in the positive territory.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex was up by 454 points or 0.59 per cent to close at 77,073.44 and the Nifty 50 was closed at 141.55 points up, or 0.61 per cent.

On NSE Nifty, out of the 50 stocks, 29 traded in green across the first trading session. However, on Sensex, a total of 19 stocks traded higher.

According to market watchers, optimism across most of the Asian and European markets ahead of Trump taking charge as the US President weighed positively on Indian benchmarks as well, with banking and telecom stocks leading the recovery.

'While it was just a sentimental impact, the undertone continues to be of uncertainty marked with extreme volatility. Local investors will be more focused on the Union Budget to be announced on February 1 and what measures would Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman take to address the ongoing slowdown and Trump's trade policies,' said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, which surged to 9.35 per cent, led the gains on Nifty 50. Among the top gainers were Wipro, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance and more. SBI Life was the top loser on the National Stock Exchange, followed by Tech Mahindra, TCS, HDFC Life, and more.

On BSE Sensex, Kotak Mahindra Bank was again the top gainer for the day, followed by the SBI, NTPC and Bajaj Finance. TCS was the leading loser on Sensex 30, followed by Tech Mahindra, ITC, and others.

The private banks were leading gainers across sectoral segments. However, PSU banks surged 2.28 per cent, followed by financial services sector and others. On the other hand, the auto index was the top loser, followed by FMCG, IT and more.

According to experts, a strong positive sentiment from Asian markets bolstered domestic markets, starting the week on a healthy note.

/IANS