Indian benchmark indices got off to a soft start on Monday, but slowly and steadily indices gathered steam and surged by quarter per cent in late morning trades. The bourses further capitalised on the momentum and spurted in afternoon trades, ending the session near day’s high. Eventually, the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, got bolstered by over half per cent to settle above the crucial 8,850 level; while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index-Sensex accumulated around two hundred points and closed above the psychological 28,600 mark.The European markets ended Monday’s session on a mixed note. The DAX of Germany gained 0.60 per cent, while the CAC 40 of France fell 0.05 per cent and the FTSE 100 of the U.K. closed flat.On Monday, U.S. markets were closed in observance of the President’s Day.Asian shares are trading in green territory, where Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 88.55 points, followed by Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite trading with gains of 0.17 and 0.24 per cent respectively.At 8:06 am, SGX Nifty index gained 16 points to 8,892, indicating a positive start for Indian equities. Castrol India Ltd., and ITD Cementation India Ltd., are scheduled to post their quarterly results later in the day.