Mumbai, Feb 20 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices climbed in initial trade on Monday amid a positive trend in Asian markets.

The BSE Sensex climbed 165.9 points to 61,168.47. The NSE Nifty advanced 35.25 points to 17,979.45.

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From the Sensex pack, Power Grid, HCL Technologies, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, NTPC and HDFC Bank were the major winners.

Tata Steel, Wipro, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Titan and Bajaj Finance were among the major laggards.

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In Asian markets, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China were trading in the positive territory.

The US markets had ended on a mixed note on Friday.

"Markets may log steady gains in early trade on Monday as investors are likely to take cues from the optimism in SGX Nifty and other select Asian peers even as the key US indices closed mixed on Friday," said Prashanth Tapse - Research Analyst, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

However, going by the tumultuous ride of the last few weeks, markets may continue to witness a bumpy ride on the back of concerns over further uptick in interest rates and the likelihood of a slowdown in global growth, Tapse added.

The 30-share BSE benchmark had declined by 316.94 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at 61,002.57 on Friday. The Nifty dropped by 91.65 points or 0.51 per cent to end at 17,944.20.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.65 per cent to USD 83.55 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 624.61 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)