Stocks stood their ground on Monday with a rally for the 3rd straight session as the Sensex and the Nifty lapped up the positive overseas trend, buoyed by strong US payroll data. The benchmark Sensex finished over 205 points higher at 33,456 while the broader NSE Nifty closed above the 10,300-mark. Participants are optimistic about a favourable result for BJP in Guj polls. However, the optimism surrounding blue-chip stocks was tempered by the fact that industrial production and retail inflation data are due later this week.