Equities trade firm in early trade; Sensex at 60,327.13

Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty climbed in initial trade on Tuesday amid buying in index majors Reliance Industries and HDFC twins.

The 30-share BSE benchmark advanced 234.16 points to 60,327.13 after a positive beginning. The broader NSE Nifty climbed 64.5 points to 17,959.35.

From the Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, ITC, HDFC, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the prominent gainers.

Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and ICICI Bank were among the laggards.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Tokyo quoted in the green, while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong traded lower.

Markets in the US were shut on Monday on account of Martin Luther King Jr Day.

The 30-share BSE benchmark had declined 168.21 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 60,092.97 on Monday. The Nifty had dipped 61.75 points or 0.34 per cent to end at 17,894.85.

International oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.18 per cent to USD 84.61 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 750.59 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.