The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex on Monday closed 255.17 points up at a record high of 31311.57, while the Nifty ended 69.50 points higher at 9657.55. The market’s mood got lifted after the Bharatiya Janata Party announced Bihar Governor and Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind as its presidential nominee.

Besides, banking stocks gained after the Reserve Bank of India asked banks to start bankruptcy process against 12 large loan defaulters. Around 12 loan defaulters had been identified by the RBI last week, but their names were not publicised. “There is a general feeling that non-performing asset (NPA) levels will come down after the RBI order to resolve NPAs of the country,” RK Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management, was quoted as saying by Mint.

In intra-day trade, the 30-share Sensex gained as much as 305 points to 31362.15. Auto, infrastructure, FMCG and PSU banks were the top gainers on the Nifty, while pharmaceuticals didn’t do too well. Among stocks, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, and Hindalco gained the most on both indices, while Infosys, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, and Eicher Motors were the top losers.

European stocks too opened higher on Monday. Euro STOXX 50 and France’s CAC 40 was up 1% each, while Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.4%.

Earlier in the day, Asian markets also kicked off the week strongly. Japan’s Nikkei saw a two-week closing high. Australian and South Korean KOSPI also saw a gain of 0.3% to 0.7%. Chinese and Hong Kong stocks also jumped 1% and 1.2% respectively.