Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 150 points in early trade on Thursday, tracking gains in index heavyweights ITC, ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries amid a largely positive trend in global markets.

The 30-share index was trading 155.90 points or 0.29 per cent higher at 54,681.83, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 42.90 points or 0.26 per cent to 16,325.15.

PowerGrid was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by ITC, M&M, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel.

On the other hand, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma and Asian Paints were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 28.73 points or 0.05 per cent lower at 54,525.93, while Nifty inched up 2.15 points or 0.01 per cent at 16,282.25.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 238.14 crore on Wednesday, as per provisional exchange data.

"Global equity markets have positive news from the US inflation data for July which has come at 0.5 per cent month-on-month. This is slightly lower than expected and confirms the Fed thesis that inflation is transitory, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The positive response of Dow and S&P to the inflation numbers and the decline in the dollar index will strengthen the bulls.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Shanghai and Hong Kong were in the red.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.04 per cent to USD 71.47 per barrel.