Sensex gains 300 points to open above 71,660; Nifty trades at 21,600

Equity benchmark indices rebounded in early trade on Thursday after falling in the past two days amid buying in Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 351.88 points to 71,708.48 in early trade. The Nifty climbed 99 points to 21,616.35.

Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, Power Grid, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nestle, Titan and Reliance Industries were the major winners.

HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Maruti and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were quoting in the negative territory.

The US markets ended lower on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.27 per cent to USD 78.46 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹666.34 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark fell by 535.88 points or 0.75 per cent to settle at 71,356.60 on Wednesday. The Nifty slipped 148.45 points or 0.69 per cent to 21,517.35.