Benchmark Sensex rebounded 496 points while Nifty closed above the 21,600 level on Friday as buying in heavyweight stocks and a firm trend in global markets helped indices cut short three days of losses.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 496.37 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 71,683.23.

During the day, it zoomed 708.78 points or 0.99 per cent to 71,895.64.

The Nifty climbed 160.15 points or 0.75 per cent to close at 21,622.40.

In the past three days, the BSE benchmark fell by 2.91 per cent, and the Nifty declined 2.87 per cent.

Among the Sensex firms, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Titan, Axis Bank, JSW Steel and Larsen & Toubro were the major gainers.

IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, and Tokyo settled in the green while Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.63 per cent to $79.60 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 9,901.56 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.