Mumbai | Benchmark Sensex recovered its early losses to close sharply higher by 694 points on late buying in banking, steel and oil & gas shares amid firm trends in global equities.

Bouncing back from Monday's sharp fall, the BSE Sensex jumped 694.39 points or 0.88 per cent to settle at 79,476.63. During the day, it soared 740.89 points or 0.94 per cent to 79,523.13.

The NSE Nifty climbed 217.95 points or 0.91 per cent to 24,213.30.

Stock markets opened on a weak note and traded in a range with a negative bias the first half. Sensex hit a low of 78,296.70 while Nifty touched 23,842.75. Value buying in the afternoon session helped indices recover losses and closed in the green.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, JSW Steel surged nearly 5 per cent while Tata Steel jumped nearly 4 per cent. Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement were also among the big gainers.

Adani Ports, ITC, Bharti Airtel and Asian Paints were among the laggards.

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

European markets were trading higher. The US markets ended lower on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,329.79 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.60 per cent to USD 75.53 a barrel.

The BSE benchmark tumbled 941.88 points or 1.18 per cent to settle at 78,782.24 on Monday, the lowest closing level since August 6. The Nifty tanked 309 points or 1.27 per cent to 23,995.35.