MUMBAI: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty surged in early trade on Thursday in tandem with a rally in global markets after lower-than-expected consumer inflation in the US ignited hopes of more rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex jumped 595.42 points to 77,319.50 in early trade. The NSE Nifty rallied 178.45 points to 23,391.65.

From the 30-share blue-chip pack, Adani Ports, Zomato, UltraTech Cement, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Finserv were the biggest gainers.

Nestle, Hindustan Unilever, ITC and Tata Consultancy Services were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading in the positive territory.

US markets rallied on Wednesday.

"Wall Street rallied overnight following cooler-than-expected core December CPI data, with the US 10-year benchmark rate falling to 4.68 per cent from its recent high," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,533.49 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

"Macro indicators from the US suggest that as the swearing-in of Trump nears, the Trump trade has peaked. The decline in US bond yields and the dollar index are indications of this. This downshift in the dollar index and bond yields has been assisted by the lower-than-expected CPI inflation in the US, again igniting hopes of more rate cuts by the Fed this year," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.44 per cent to USD 82.39 a barrel.

The 30-share BSE index climbed 224.45 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 76,724.08 on Wednesday. The Nifty advanced 37.15 points or 0.16 per cent to 23,213.20.