The BSE Sensex rose sharply by over 222 points in early trade Monday on bargain buying in stocks by funds and retail investors amid positive cues from other Asian markets.

The 30-share index, which had gained 1.06 percent in highly volatile trade on Friday, spurted by 222.34 points, or 0.81 percent, to 27,680.98, with FMCG, infrastructure, consumer durables, capital goods and banking sector stocks leading the recovery.

Also, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty reclaimed the crucial 8,400-mark by surging 63.65 points, or 0.76 percent, to 8,405.05.

Brokers said value-buying by funds in select bluechip stocks after recent losses amid a firming trend in other Asian markets, following weekend gains on US markets, buoyed trading sentiments here.

Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up by 0.99 percent while Japan’s Nikkei gained 0.53 percent in early trade Monday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.19 percent higher in the previous session on Friday.