Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty climbed in early trade on Friday amid buying in bank stocks and a largely firm trend in the Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 311.48 points to 78,783.96 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 98.1 points to 23,848.30.

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From the 30 blue-chip pack, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv and ICICI Bank were among the biggest gainers.

HCL Technologies, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services and Larsen & Toubro were the laggards.

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In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded higher while Seoul quoted lower.

US markets ended on a flat note on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude traded marginally up by 0.01 per cent to USD 73.27 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,376.67 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark dipped 0.39 points to settle at 78,472.48 in a muted trade on Thursday. The Nifty eked out gains of 22.55 points or 0.1 per cent to 23,750.20.

(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)