Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty were trading higher in early trade on Wednesday, tracking a rally in Asian markets amid hopes of a US Federal Reserve rate cut later this month.

The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 354.57 points to 82,384.55 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 109.55 points to 25,255.05.

From the Sensex firms, Asian Paints, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics, Bajaj Finserv and Power Grid were among the major winners.

However, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Infosys and Titan were the laggards.

In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were trading in the positive territory.

US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

“Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned that the sharp slowdown in hiring is increasingly threatening the US economy, hinting at the possibility of two more rate cuts this year,” Jigar Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst at Reliance Securities, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.19 per cent to USD 62.27 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,508.53 crore on Tuesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 3,661.13 crore, according to exchange data.

On Tuesday, the Sensex declined 297.07 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at 82,029.98. The Nifty dipped by 81.85 points or 0.32 per cent to 25,145.50.