Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 400 points in early trade on Monday, tracking gains in index majors Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC twins amid a positive trend in global equities.

The 30-share index was trading 411.04 points or 0.74 per cent higher at 55,740.36, while the broader NSE Nifty jumped 109.35 points or 0.66 per cent to 16,559.85.

HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 2 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finance, L&T, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, TCS and Reliance Industries.

On the other hand, PowerGrid and HUL were the laggards.

“Domestic equities look inspiring as of now. Minutes of the MPC meeting held at the beginning of this month continues to show RBI’s commitment to ensure policy support to sustain economic recovery despite select members showing some apprehensions about high inflation and pitching for gradual normalisation in ultra-soft monetary policy,” said Binod Modi, Head of Strategy at Reliance Securities.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry has declared that the number of active Covid-19 cases in the country has declined to 3,53,398. A single-day rise of 25,072 cases and 389 fatalities have pushed India’s total tally of deaths to 4,34,756.

Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul were trading with strong gains in mid-session deals.