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| Photo Credit: PTI

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rebounded sharply on January 29, surging nearly 2%, on heavy buying in Reliance Industries and a rally in Asian markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 1,240.90 points or 1.76% to settle at 71,941.57. During the day, it soared 1,309.55 points or 1.85% to 72,010.22.

The Nifty climbed 385 points or 1.80% to 21,737.60.

Among the Sensex firms, Reliance Industries jumped nearly 7%, contributing the most to the rally in markets.

Tata Motors, Power Grid, Larsen and Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC, Titan and UltraTech Cement were the other major gainers.

ITC, Infosys, JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra and Tata Consultancy Services were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled in the positive territory while Shanghai ended lower.

European markets were trading mostly lower. The U.S. markets had ended on a mixed note on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.18% to $83.40 a barrel.

Markets were closed on Friday on account of Republic Day.

On Thursday, the BSE benchmark declined 359.64 points or 0.51% to settle at 70,700.67 points while the Nifty fell 101.35 points or 0.47% to 21,352.60 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,144.06 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.