Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Tuesday but were later trading flat in a highly volatile trade amid mixed trends from Asian markets and due to lack of any major immediate trigger.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 87.6 points to 71,194.56 in early trade. The Nifty went up by 40.25 points to 21,389.65.

However, later both the benchmark indices turned flat in a highly volatile trade.

Among the Sensex firms, NTPC, Tata Steel, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India were the major gainers.

Wipro, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services and Maruti were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul quoted with gains while Tokyo and Shanghai traded lower.

The US markets ended on a mixed note on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.04 per cent to USD 79.07 a barrel.

"The global rally in December led by the mother market US has lifted most markets significantly and India was fortunate to have the lift from the state election results too. The 6 per cent rally in Nifty in December has heated up the market a bit and the bulls are likely to wait for the New Year for further action," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Equity markets were closed on Monday for Christmas.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,828.94 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark climbed 241.86 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 71,106.96 on Friday. The Nifty went up by 94.35 points or 0.44 per cent to 21,349.40.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.