MUMBAI: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded in early trade on Monday tracking a rally in Asian markets after two days of sharp decline.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 288.79 points to 81,407.39 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty went up by 98.9 points to 24,817.50.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Asian Paints, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys were among the biggest gainers.

Tata Motors, Axis Bank, Adani Ports and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the laggards.

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

US markets ended lower on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.73 per cent to USD 74.77 a barrel.

"Interestingly there is no panic in equity markets. Markets will be severely impacted only if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz triggering a huge spike in crude. This appears to be a low probability event now," VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,263.52 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

On Friday, the 30-share BSE Sensex dived 573.38 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 81,118.60. The Nifty dropped 169.60 points or 0.68 per cent to 24,718.60.

In the past two days, the BSE benchmark has lost 1,396.54 points or 1.69 per cent, and the Nifty dropped 422.8 points or 1.68 per cent.