Benchmark equity indices rebounded in early trade on Friday after three days of fall, helped by buying in bank and IT stocks, along with a firm trend in the US markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 657.45 points to 71,844.31 in early trade after a firm beginning. The Nifty climbed 194.75 points to 21,657.

Among the Sensex firms, Titan, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, Infosys, and ITC were the major gainers.

IndusInd Bank and Reliance emerged as the losers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, and Tokyo traded in the green while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower.

The US markets ended with gains on Thursday.

The BSE benchmark fell by 313.90 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 71,186.86 on Thursday. The Nifty declined 109.70 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 21,462.25.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.27 per cent to USD 78.89 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 9,901.56 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

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