Mumbai: Equity benchmarks started the trade on a firm note on Thursday, with the Sensex climbing over 362 points, mirroring positive trend in global markets and foreign fund inflows.


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Buying in IT counters also added to the momentum.


The 30-share BSE benchmark gained 362.13 points to 58,712.66. The broader NSE Nifty went up by 102.55 points to 17,490.70.


Among the Sensex constituents, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Dr Reddy's, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers.


NTPC, State Bank of India, Maruti Suzuki India, Reliance Industries and Titan were among the laggards.


In Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the green.


The US markets had ended significantly higher on Wednesday.


The BSE benchmark ended 214.17 points or 0.37 per cent higher at 58,350.53 on Wednesday. The Nifty went up by 42.70 points or 0.25 per cent to 17,388.15.


Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.24 per cent to USD 97.02 per barrel.


Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital markets as they bought shares worth Rs 765.17 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.


"In India, FPIs turning buyers has changed the sentiments in favour of the bulls. The market momentum is so strong that it is overpowering negatives like higher valuations and rising trade deficit.


"If FPI buying sustains, the market may continue to remain resilient, but investors should exercise some caution," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.