Stock markets bounce back in early trade after falling sharply last week

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Monday after registering a sharp fall last week, amid value-buying at lower levels and a firm trend in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 255.46 points to 80,681.92 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 89.05 points to 24,743.75.

From the Sensex firms, Bharat Electronics, Eternal, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Titan and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major gainers.

However, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel were among the laggards.

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

US markets ended higher on Friday.

"While US markets got a breather with the Dow snapping a 5-day losing streak, focus now shifts to RBI's policy on October 1 and US jobs data on October 3," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Last week, the BSE benchmark tanked 2,199.77 points or 2.66 per cent and the NSE Nifty dropped 672.35 points or 2.65 per cent.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 5,687.58 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 5,843.21 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.60 per cent to USD 69.71 a barrel.

On Friday, the Sensex tanked 733.22 points or 0.90 per cent to settle at 80,426.46. The Nifty tumbled 236.15 points or 0.95 per cent to an over three-week low of 24,654.70.