Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 250 points in opening trade on Tuesday with Nifty crossing the 13,000 mark for the first time ever. Markets were tracking gains in index-heavyweights HDFC Bank, Maruti, ONGC and Axis Bank amid optimism of a COVID vaccine, positive cues from global markets and unabated foreign fund inflows.

After touching a lifetime intra-day high of 44,358.71, the 30-share BSE index was trading 271.48 points or 0.62 per cent higher at 44,348.63 in the opening session. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty touched the 13,000 mark for the first time ever as it rose 76.65 points or 0.59 per cent to 13,003.10.

At the time of writing, Sensex was up 346.23 points or 0.79% up at 44,423.38, while Nifty was at 13,030.55, up 104.10 points (0.81%).

HDFC Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 1.60 per cent, followed by Maruti, ONGC, Axis Bank, L&T, Titan, ICICI Bank and PowerGrid.

Maruti Suzuki was up 2.51% after the automaker raised its production estimate for the rest of the financial year, with November, December output being estimated at 2-11% higher. This is on the back on strong sales during the festive season and a healthy pending order list.

On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Nestle India, Infosys and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.

In the previous session, Sensex ended 194.90 points or 0.44 per cent higher at 44,077.15, and NSE Nifty rose 67.40 points or 0.52 per cent to close at 12,926.45.

Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,738.44 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.

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

Bourses in the US ended on a positive note in overnight trade.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.85 per cent higher at USD 46.45 per barrel.