Indian shares gained for a fifth day on Monday, driven by heavyweight Infosys after the country's second-largest software exporter named former CEO and co-founder Nandan Nilekani as its new chairman.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 0.49 percent at 31,750 while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 0.57 at 9,912. Indian financial markets were shut on Friday for a public holiday.
Infosys jumped 3 percent as Nilekani returned just seven days after former Chief Executive Officer Vishal Sikka left the company criticizing founders for interfering with management.
Nilekani was unanimously named by the board as its non-executive chairman in a widely anticipated move.
Among the other top index gainers: NTPC rose 2.1 percent, Sun Pharma gained 1.8 percent, Hero MotoCorp added 1.9 percent while Hindustan Unilever was up 1.7 percent.
Adani Enterprises climbed 9 percent. Adani Group plans to start work on its $16.5 billion Carmichael coal project in Australia in October, Chairman Gautam Adani said, buoyed by the dismissal of appeals filed against the project by Australian activists.
Among the losers, Bharat Bijlee slumped 10 percent after the company said its loss for the June quarter widened to Rs 3.87 crore.
Market breadth was in the favour of gainers, with about 2 stocks advancing to every 1 stock that declined.
Asian stocks fluctuated and U.S. equity futures fell as the most powerful hurricane Harvey that hit Texas in more than 50 years, continued to batter the state.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 109.15 yen as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's remarks disappointed some investors who had hoped for hints on the Fed's plans for interest rates.
On the geopolitical front, North Korea fired three ballistic missiles over the weekend after Kim Jong Un's regime strongly criticized U.S.-South Korea joint military drills.
