Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rallied more than 1 per cent in early trade on Friday in line with firm trends in the global markets and heavy buying in index major Reliance Industries.

Fresh foreign fund inflows also added to the positive momentum in the equity market. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 705.26 points to 58,665.35 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 196.95 points to 17,277.65.

Among the Sensex firms, Reliance Industries emerged as the biggest gainer as it jumped over 3 per cent. HCL Technologies, ICICI Bank, Nestle, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Power Grid, NTPC and Axis Bank were the other major winners.

Asian Paints and ITC were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting in the green. The US markets ended in positive territory on Thursday.

"There are signs of the global equity markets, led by the mother market US, coming out of the banking contagion fears. The fact that there have been no further bank failures or major stress in the system, is good news for equity markets," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

.Nifty valuations are now reasonable and this has prompted FIIs to turn buyers in the last two days, Vijaykumar said.

Indian equity markets were closed on Thursday on account of ‘Ram Navami’.

The 30-share BSE benchmark advanced 346.37 points or 0.60 per cent to finish at 57,960.09 on Wednesday. The Nifty climbed 129 points or 0.76 per cent to end at 17,080.70.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.24 per cent to USD 79.08 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) were net buyers on Wednesday as they bought equities worth Rs 1,245.39 crore, according to exchange data.

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