Stock markets rally in early trade; Sensex jumps over 400 points

Mumbai: Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged in early trade on Friday, extending their previous session's rally, in-tandem with a positive global trends amid a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 402.99 points to 85,221.12 during early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 115.3 points to 26,013.85.

From the Sensex firms, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank and Bharat Electronics were among the major gainers.

However, Tech Mahindra, ITC, Infosys, HCL Tech and Hindustan Unilever were the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index traded in positive territory while Shanghai's SSE Composite index quoted lower.

US markets ended mostly higher on Thursday.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.64 per cent to USD 61.69 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,020.94 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 3,796.07 crore, according to exchange data.

On Thursday, the Sensex climbed 426.86 points or 0.51 per cent to settle at 84,818.13. The Nifty went up by 140.55 points or 0.55 per cent to 25,898.55.