Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex advanced by over 196 points in early trade today on buying by institutional and retail investors in IT, banking and FMCG stocks.

Asian markets were trading in the green following positive lead from Wall Street as investors continued to shun inflation worries.

The 30-share index advanced by 196.39 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 34,493.86 in early trade. All the Sectoral indices led by realty, IT and metal were trading higher by up to 1.44 per cent.

The gauge had gained 141.52 points in the previous session.

The NSE Nifty rose by 60.90 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 10.606.40.

The country's exports rose by 9 per cent to USD 24.38 billion in January, helped by a healthy growth in shipments of chemicals, engineering goods and petroleum products, aiding the growth sentiment.

Even as the trade gap soared to USD 16.3 billion, the highest since November 2014, in January on account of a 26.1 per cent increase in imports to USD 40.68 billion, the rupee was trading firm against the US dollar.

Major gainers that supported the uptrend were Infoys, Tata Steel, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank, TCS, Dr Reddy and ITC Ltd, rising up to 1.15 per cent.

However, Punjab National Bank remaind under selling pressure and declined another 3.31 per cent.

Gitanjali Gems also traded lower by 19.94 per cent.

Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 49.92 crore while Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 240.29 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

Among Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei was trading higher by 1.09 per cent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite are closed today for public holidays.

Most of the other Asian markets are also closed for a holiday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.23 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.