Mumbai, Aug 13: Equity benchmark Sensex jumped over 250 points to cross the 55,000-mark in early trade on Friday, led by gains in index heavyweights HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and TCS.

The 30-share index was trading 258.4 points or 0.47 per cent higher at a lifetime intra-day peak of 55,102.42, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 69.80 points or 0.43 per cent to record 16,434.20 in initial deals.

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M&M was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 1 per cent, followed by L&T, HDFC, ITC, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Dr Reddy's, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid and Tata Steel were among the laggards.

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In the previous session, Sensex climbed 318.05 points or 0.58 per cent to close at 54,843.98, and Nifty advanced 82.15 points or 0.26 per cent to 16,325.15.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 212.11 crore on Thursday, as per provisional exchange data.

"Bulls are showing no signs of fatigue as Nifty raced to another record... Global support to the rally is intact with the Dow and S&P setting yet another record high,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Retail investors relentlessly chasing stocks and the sheer momentum in the market has taken the Nifty to 16,500 levels, he said, adding that the rally is likely to be led by the leading high-quality private banks and leading IT names.

US equities extended gains with Dow and S&P 500 closing at record highs. A consistent improvement in key economic data lifted sentiments and defied higher inflation, experts said.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with losses in mid-session deals, while Tokyo was positive.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.59 per cent to USD 70.89 per barrel.

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