Indian equities opened sharply higher on Monday, with the BSE Sensex jumping as much as 1,100 points, or about 1.4%, to trade above 81,500, while the Nifty 50 crossed the 25,000 mark for the first time after gaining more than 300 points. The banking-heavy Nifty Bank index started the session around 55,940, signalling broad-based risk appetite. Investors credited the rally to an upgrade by S&P Global Ratings that reaffirmed India’s macroeconomic stability, alongside optimism created by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recently announced corporate tax cuts. Sentiment was further supported by a pull-back in crude prices after the United States refrained from new curbs on Russian oil exports during talks between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Autos led sectoral advances, with the NSE Auto Index up 3%. Hero MotoCorp surged about 8% on pre-launch buzz around a new 125cc motorcycle, while Maruti Suzuki added roughly 6%. Consumer-durables names also outperformed; Voltas, Blue Star and PG Electroplast climbed up to 10% on expectations that the government may rationalise goods-and-services-tax rates. Market participants will watch whether foreign portfolio investors, who sold ₹19.3 billion of shares in the last session, return amid the improved outlook. Domestic institutional investors have been net buyers for 29 consecutive sessions, helping underpin the market’s upward momentum.