Indian shares rose more than 1.5 in this year's first trading session on Monday as banking and auto stocks rallied despite a surge in the country's Covid-19 cases. At the closing bell, the NSE Nifty 50 index was up 1.57 at 17,625.70 and the benchmark S P BSE Sensex 1.60 higher at 59,183.22 points. Meanwhile, India's unemployment rate hit a four-month high in December, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed. The unemployment rate rose to 7.9 in December from 7.0 in November, its highest since 8.3 in August.