Sensex climbs 327 points in early trade; Nifty tests 17,653

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a positive note on Friday tracking gains in Axis Bank and a mixed trend in Asian markets.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyers in the markets on Thursday after many days and this also added to the momentum.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 327.9 points to 59,530.80 in early trade. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty advanced 89.65 points to 17,653.60.

From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank climbed nearly 6 per cent after the company on Thursday reported a 66.29 per cent jump in its consolidated net profit for the September quarter at Rs 5,625.25 crore, driven by a substantial decrease in bad loan provisions and margin expansion.

The other major winners from the 30-share pack were Titan, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, UltraTech Cement and Mahindra & Mahindra.

However, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies, Dr Reddy's, Infosys and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

In other Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai were trading higher, while Tokyo and Hong Kong quoted lower in mid-session deals.

Wall Street had ended lower on Thursday.

"IT and banks account for the major chunk of India Inc's profits. After good Q2 results from IT, leading banks are posting very good Q2 numbers indicating that corporate earnings are in-line with optimistic expectations. Q2 results of Axis Bank and ITC have beaten expectations," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The BSE benchmark climbed 95.71 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 59,202.90 on Thursday. The Nifty ended 51.70 points or 0.30 per cent higher at 17,563.95.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading o.32 per cent higher at USD 92.68 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors turned net buyers after many days as they bought shares worth Rs 1,864.79 crore on Thursday, as per exchange data.