The benchmark BSE Sensex on Monday surged by over 321 points  in early trade on fresh buying by investors amid a firm trend in Asian markets and better-than-expected earnings from HDFC Bank.

The 30-share barometer, which had lost 847 points in the previous two sessions, was trading higher by 321.41 points, or nearly 1 per cent, at 34,637.04.

Sectoral indices led by healthcare, bankex, capital goods and auto were trading in the green with gains of up to 0.92 per cent.

The NSE Nifty was quoting 49.60 points, or 0.48 per cent,higher at 10,353.15.

Brokers said emergence of buying by investors, driven by positive trend at other Asian bourses, and encouraging quarterly earnings from HDFC Bank, influenced trading Sentiments.

Stock of HDFC Bank was trading higher by 1.36 per cent after the private lender posted better-than-expected earnings.

The bank Saturday reported a rise of 20.6 per cent in its net profit to Rs 5,005.73 crore for the second quarter ended September this fiscal, as the core income grew at a healthy pace.

Other big gainers were Adani Ports, SBI, ITC Ltd, ICICI Bank, HDFC Ltd, SunPharma, Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank Vedanta Ltd, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Axis Bank, gaining up to 2.28 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth RS 618.26 crore, while DIIs offloaded shares to the tune of Rs 2.14 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.

Shanghai Composite Index climbed 4.09 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng surged 2.85 per cent in late morning trade Monday. Japan's Nikkei, however, was down 0.31 per cent.

Meanwhile, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26 per cent on Friday.

The rupee on Monday strengthened by 8 paise to 73.24 on Monday.The rupee opened lower at 73.36, at the Interbank Foreign Exchange, and dipped further to 73.38. However, soon, it recovered the lost ground and rose to 73.24.