The Indian markets on Monday gained for the fourth straight day on strong gross domestic product (GDP) numbers. The GDP expanded 8.6% in the March quarter from 6.5% (revised) in the December quarter, according to a government release.

The benchmark Sensex advanced 81.57 points, or 0.48%, to close the day at 16,944.63, while the broad-based Nifty rose 19.75 points, or 0.39%, to end the day at 5086.3.

Despite the gains, Sensex lost 3.5% in May, its first monthly decline since January, when the markets had fallen over 6%. The dip has been less compared to global peers such as China, which is down almost 10% in May, Japan down 12%, US 8% and UK down 7%.

Heavy selling by foreign investors has seemed to ebb. That is helping the markets post gains,? said Piyush Garg, chief investment officer, ICICI Securities. ?It is unlikely that the markets will rally from here. They will consolidate at these levels.?

Most broader indices, including BSE Midcap and Smallcap, ended in positive. BSE PSU and auto indices gained the most amongst the sectoral indices while BSE Reality index fell the most. Most auto stocks rose on hopes of strong sales in May. The automobile companies will announce their May sales figures on Tuesday.

Mahindra & Mahindra and ONGC were the biggest gainers on the Sensex, gaining 5% and 3% respectively, while Sterlite Industries, Reliance Communications and Jaiprakash Associates were the biggest losers, falling 2.8%, 1.7% and 1.5% respectively.

Amongst Asian indices, Taiwan?s Taiex Index closed 1.1% higher, South Korea?s KOSPI gained 1.4%, Indonesia?s Jakarta climbed over 3%, Japan?s Nikkei closed marginal 0.22% up, while markets in China closed in the negative. Cues from the European markets were also positive, both Germany?s DAX and France?s CAC 40 were trading marginally up. The US and UK stocks markets were closed for public holidays.

Due to the absence of strong global cues, trading volume on the bourses was lackluster, the NSE cash segment clocked volumes of Rs 12,303 crore, while the total volume on the F&O side was just Rs 62,506 crore.