Mumbai, April 21 (IANS) The Indian stock market continued its strong rally for the fifth day in a row on Monday, as investors showed heavy buying interest in banking, IT, and auto stocks.

The Sensex jumped 855.30 points, or 1.09 per cent, to close at 79,408.50. Similarly, the Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also ended on a higher note. It surged 273.90 points, or 1.15 per cent, to close at 24,125.55.

Out of the 30 stocks that are part of the Sensex, the top gainers included Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid Corporation, Bajaj Finserv, and Mahindra and Mahindra. Some of these stocks gained up to 4.91 per cent during the day.

In the past five trading sessions, the Sensex has rallied by 7.5 per cent or 5,562 points. During the same period, the Nifty has jumped by 7.7 per cent or 1,726 points.

The broader markets performed even better than the main indices. The Nifty Midcap100 rose by 2.50 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap100 climbed by 2.21 per cent.

Banking stocks were in strong demand as the Bank Nifty index touched a new high of 55,461.65 during the intraday. It finally closed at 55,304.50, rising 1.87 per cent.

The biggest gainers in the banking space included AU Small Finance Bank, IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Federal Bank, which ended the day with gains between 3.72 per cent and 7.32 per cent.

At the same time, both the Nifty Private Bank and PSU Bank indices also ended the day with gains of over 2 per cent each.

Apart from banking, most other sectors on the NSE also closed in the green. Nifty IT, Auto, Realty, and Oil and Gas indices all rose more than 2 per cent.

However, Nifty FMCG was the only index to end slightly lower. Meanwhile, the Indian rupee commenced the week with upward momentum, marking its fifth consecutive day of gains.

"This positive trend was fuelled by a weakening US dollar against major global currencies. Furthermore, robust performance in domestic equity markets, consistent inflows from foreign investment, and a decline in crude oil prices provided additional tailwinds for the rupee's appreciation," said Dilip Parmar, senior research analyst at HDFC Securities.