Sensex surges over 350 points in early trade; Nifty above 17,300

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 350 points in early trade on Friday, led by strong gains in index majors ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and HDFC amid mixed cues from Asian markets.

The 30-share index was trading 364.54 points or 0.63 per cent higher at 58,158.86 in opening trade. Similarly, the Nifty rose 104.05 points or 0.60 per cent to 17,308.

Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over two per cent, followed by Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, ICICI Bank, M&M, Reliance Industries and HDFC.

On the other hand, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank and Infosys were among the laggards.

In the previous session, the 30-share index closed lower by 12.17 points or 0.02 per cent at 57,794.32. And the NSE Nifty edged down by 9.65 points or 0.06 per cent to 17,203.95.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Seoul and Tokyo were in losses.

Stock exchanges in the US ended with losses in the overnight session.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.80 per cent to USD 78.89 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market, as they sold shares worth Rs 986.32 crore on Thursday, according to stock exchange data.