Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged in early trade on Thursday amid a rally in Asian markets and buying in blue-chip bank stocks.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 425.5 points to 78,898.37 in early trade. The NSE Nifty surged 123.85 points to 23,851.50.

From the 30 blue-chip stocks, State Bank of India, Maruti, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Power Grid were among the biggest gainers.

Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Nestle and Tata Consultancy Services were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai were trading in the positive territory.

US markets were closed on Wednesday for Christmas.

The Indian economy is recovering from the slowdown in momentum witnessed in the September quarter, driven by strong festival activity and a sustained upswing in rural demand, according to a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) bulletin released on Tuesday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,454.21 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

The Indian stock markets were closed on Wednesday on account of Christmas.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.41 per cent to USD 73.88 a barrel.

After gyrating between highs and lows, the 30-share BSE index had declined 67.30 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 78,472.87 on Tuesday. The Nifty dipped 25.80 points or 0.11 per cent to 23,727.65.

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