Mumbai, February 3: Equity benchmarks climbed in initial trade on Friday amid a strong rally in the US markets and buying in banking counters. The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex rose by 481.94 points to 60,414.18. The broader NSE Nifty advanced 118.05 points to 17,728.45.

From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank, HDFC and State Bank of India were among the major winners. Sensex, Nifty Rise After US Federal Reserve Rate Hike, Snap Losing Run in Morning Trade; Rupee Gains 5 Paise to 82.835 Against US Dollar.

Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Infosys and Nestle were among the laggards. Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul and Tokyo were trading in the green, while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower.

Markets in the US ended mostly in the positive territory on Thursday. "The ferocious rally of 3 per cent in Nasdaq yesterday is an indication that the market expects a soft landing of the US economy. IT stocks look strong," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

The Sensex had advanced 224.16 points or 0.38 per cent to settle at 59,932.24 on Thursday. However, the Nifty had dipped 5.90 points or 0.03 per cent to end at 17,610.40. Stock Market Crash: Equities Tumble Nearly 2%; Sensex Settles Below 60,000 and Nifty 17,800.

International oil benchmark Brent crude quoted 0.10 per cent lower at USD 82.17 per barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) again offloaded shares on Thursday after a day's breather. They sold shares worth Rs 3,065.35 crore, according to exchange data.

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