Mumbai, April 21 : The Indian stock markets traded higher in early deals on Tuesday, supported by hopes of a peace deal between the United States and Iran, along with a decline in crude oil prices.

Sensex rose 0.56 per cent, or 445 points, to hit an intra-day high of 78,966, while Nifty climbed 0.48 per cent or 118 points to 24,483, amid buying in realty, banking, metal, consumer durables and chemical stocks.

Sectorally, Nifty Realty, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Metal, Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Chemicals and Nifty FMCG rose 1.88 per cent, 1 per cent, 0.93 per cent, 0.73 per cent, 0.65 per cent, 0.62 per cent and 0.60 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, SBI Life, HDFC Life, Infosys, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, BEL, Tech Mahindra, Max Healthcare, TCS, Cipla and Eicher Motors were among the top losers in early trade.

Broader markets also saw buying interest, with small-cap and mid-cap indices emerging as top gainers.

The positive momentum followed reports that Iran is considering attending peace talks with the US in Pakistan, amid efforts by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iranian ports.

On Monday, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers, offloading equities worth Rs 1,059.93 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers, with inflows of Rs 2,966.89 crore.

Analysts said the market setup points to a mildly positive to range-bound session.

"However, the sharp rise in volatility, coupled with FII selling and ongoing consolidation near resistance levels, suggests that profit booking or sideways movement cannot be ruled out," they added.

On the commodities front, Brent crude futures fell 0.93 per cent to $94.59 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 2.19 per cent to $85.5.

In global markets, Wall Street ended marginally lower, with major indices easing after logging their third consecutive weekly gains, as renewed US-Iran tensions cast doubt on the durability of a two-week ceasefire.

The S&P 500 fell 16.92 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 7,109.14, while the Nasdaq declined 64.09 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 24,404.39.

Asian markets were mixed. The Nikkei, Hang Seng and KOSPI traded up to 2 per cent higher, while the Jakarta Composite and Shanghai Composite fell up to 1 per cent.

/IANS