Mumbai, 22 April

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty climbed in early trade on Tuesday as investors’ sentiment remained buoyant amid continuous foreign fund inflows and buying in blue-chip bank stocks.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 319.89 points to 79,728.39 in early trade. The NSE Nifty went up by 76.1 points to 24,201.65.

From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Tata Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the biggest gainers.

IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Power Grid and Asian Paints were among the laggards.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,970.17 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Shanghai SSE Composite traded higher while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng quoted lower.

US markets ended significantly lower on Monday. Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.55 per cent, Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 2.48 per cent and S&P 500 slumped 2.36 per cent.

"During normal times, the correlation between the US market, known as the mother market, and other markets is high. But these are abnormal times when the normal correlation need not hold. The US market was rattled yesterday on news of potential Trump-Powell tensions impacting the independence of the Fed. Markets abhor this," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

This period of uncertainty is likely to witness EMs (emerging markets) like India decoupling from the US market, he added.

"A brewing clash between President Trump and Fed Chair Powell over rate cuts could also weigh on global cues. Still, India’s strong fundamentals, favourable Q4FY25 expectations, and easing inflation continue to support the bull case," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.48 per cent to USD 66.58 a barrel.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 855.30 points or 1.09 per cent to settle above the 79,000 mark at 79,408.50 on Monday. The Nifty climbed 273.90 points or 1.15 per cent to close at 24,125.55.