Equity benchmarks on Tuesday started the trade on a firm note with the Sensex climbing over 395 points helped by buying in HDFC twins, foreign fund inflows and falling crude oil prices.

The 30-share BSE benchmark index was trading 395.29 points higher at 59,858.07 during the early trade. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 105.2 points to 17,803.35.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle India, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and HDFC were the lead gainers.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel were the laggards.

In Asia, Seoul and Shanghai were trading higher, while Tokyo and Hong Kong quoted lower in mid-session deals.

Markets on the Wall Street had ended higher on Monday.

Stock markets were closed on Monday on account of Independence Day.

The 30-share BSE index had ended 130.18 points or 0.22 per cent higher at 59,462.78 on Friday. The Nifty had advanced 39.15 points or 0.22 per cent to 17,698.15.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 1.31 per cent lower at USD 94.25 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the Indian capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 3,040.46 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.