Mumbai, Mar 20 (IANS): The stock markets surged on Friday after a volatile early trade with the BSE Sensex rising over 1,300 points.

At 12.32 p.m., it was trading at 29,697.83, higher by 1409.60 or 4.98 per cent from its previous close of 28,288.23.

It had opened at 28,460.82 and has so far touched a high of 29,799.92 and a low of 27,932.67.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 8,669.85, higher by 406.40 points or 4.92 per cent.

The rally came after a freefall in the markets in the past few trading sessions. On Thursday, both Sensex and Nifty hit fresh three-year low levels, falling below the psychological marks of 27,000 and 8,000, respectively.

Buying was witnessed in almost all the sectoral indices led by a 10 per cent rise in the BSE IT index. The BSE Realty index was, however, trading with minor losses.

The major gainers on the Sensex were ONGC, TCS and HCL Technologies, while HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank were the only losers.