Benchmark equity indices rallied in early trade on Friday, with the NSE Nifty hitting a fresh all-time peak, helped by buying in IT stocks and continuous foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 329.52 points to 77,808.45 in early trade. The Nifty went up by 100.1 points to hit a record peak of 23,667.10.

Among the 30 Sensex companies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid and IndusInd Bank were the biggest gainers.

Tata Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 415.30 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

"The market is in a consolidation phase, and this is likely to continue. There are no major triggers for aggressive buying or selling. Even in this consolidation phase the undertone of the market is bullish and, therefore, buying on dips will emerge imparting resilience to the market," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.15 per cent to USD 85.58 a barrel.

Rallying for the sixth straight session on Thursday, the BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 141.34 points or 0.18 per cent to settle at a new closing peak of 77,478.93. The Nifty rose 51 points or 0.22 per cent to settle at its fresh closing high of 23,567.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting lower.

US markets ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

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