Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Friday amid buying in index major Reliance Industries and IT counters.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 134 points to 59,766.37 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 36.4 points to 17,660.85.

Among the Sensex firms, HCL Technologies emerged as the biggest gainer, climbing nearly 2 per cent in early deals. HCL Technologies on Thursday posted a 10.85 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,983 crore for the fourth quarter of 2022-23.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Titan, Wipro, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries were among the other winners.

Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Maruti, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement and Larsen & Toubro were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower.

The US markets had ended in the negative territory on Thursday.

"The Q4 results season, so far, has been a mixed bag with IT disappointing and banking giving early indications of continuing strength. Broadly, this trend is likely to sustain. But there can be occasional pull backs in IT from the sharp correction after the Infosys results.

"HCL Tech results have not disappointed; some IT midcaps may beat market expectations. Even then, a strong and sustainable rebound in IT is difficult, given the weak global cues," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The Sensex climbed 64.55 points or 0.11 per cent to settle at 59,632.35 on Thursday. The Nifty went up by 5.70 points or 0.03 per cent to finish at 17,624.45.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.09 per cent to USD 81.03 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,169.32 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

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