Sensex rallies over 250 points, Nifty above 10,850

New Delhi: Markets posted strong gains on Friday on the first day of the March series amidst positive global cues.

The BSE Sensex soared 252.22 or 0.70 percent to 36,119.66 in early trade while the NSE Nifty jumped 72.50 points or 0.67 percent to 10,865.00.

The gauge had lost over 346 points in the previous three sessions due to geo-political tensions between India and Pakistan.

In the Sensex pack, top gainers were Tata Motors, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, TCs, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, HUL, HDFC Ltd, Bajaj Finance, SBI, RIL, Coal India, L&T and ITC Ltd, rising up to 1.18 per cent.

Meanwhile, on a net basis, FIIs bought shares worth Rs 3,210.6 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 5,240.62 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed.

Asian shares rose on Friday, driven by a rally in Chinese markets, a Reuters report said. MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose more than 0.3 percent.

Elsewhere in the region, Japan`s Nikkei 225 gained 0.9 percent, helped by a weaker yen, while Australian shares added 0.6 percent. The gains in Asia contrast with a weaker finish on Wall Street on Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.27 percent to 25,916 points, the S&P 500 lost 0.28 percent to 2,784.49 and the Nasdaq dropped 0.29 percent to 7,532.53.

With Agency Inputs