Mumbai, Nov 23 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Thursday in tandem with a rally in the US markets and drop in crude oil prices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 182.62 points to 66,205.86 in early trade, extending its previous day's gain. The Nifty climbed 54.35 points to 19,866.20.

Among the Sensex firms, Wipro, Asian Paints, Nestle, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank and ITC were the major gainers.

UltraTech Cement and Hindustan Unilever were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Shanghai traded in the green while Seoul and Hong Kong quoted lower.

The US markets ended with gains on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.33 per cent to USD 80.87 a barrel.

'The 10-year US bond yield hovering around 4.40 per cent and the declining volume of FII selling augur well for the market,' said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 306.56 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark climbed 92.47 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 66,023.24 on Wednesday. The Nifty edged higher by 28.45 points or 0.14 per cent to 19,811.85. PTI SUM SUM ANU ANU