Mumbai, (PTI) Benchmark Sensex surged past the 35,000-mark today as earnings optimism and bargain hunting in recently-battered counters sparked a sustained mid-session upswing amid mixed overseas cues.

Fresh buying by domestic institutional investors and optimism ahead of some key earnings added to the momentum, brokers said.

The 30-share Sensex rallied almost 293 points to finish at 35,208.14, while the broad-based Nifty reclaimed the 10,700-level with a 97-point leap.

Globally, while Asian markets ended mixed despite a strong closing on Wall Street, US crude prices topped the USD 75 mark for the first time since 2014 on rising geopolitical concerns.

Back home, the BSE benchmark Sensex opened higher at 34,983.59 and hovered in a range of 35,259.81 to 34,977.74 before finishing at 35,208.14, showing a gain of 292.76 points or 0.84 per cent.

This is its highest closing since February 1, 2018, when it had finished at 35,906.66.

The gauge had lost 261.04 points in the previous two sessions.

The NSE 50-share Nifty spurted 97.25 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 10,715.50 after shuttling between 10,725.65 and 10,635.65.

Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors bought shares worth a net Rs 1,084.09 crore, while foreign portfolio investors offloaded equities worth Rs 1,628.23 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

"Friday's upbeat closing in Wall Street lifted the domestic sentiment, as weak US jobs data has further eased the prospects of a near term FOMC rate hike.

"Sustained FII selling in cash continues to be a limiting factor, but earnings positivity has kept the momentum in favour of the bulls so far. But persistent rise in oil continues to be a drag...," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

M&M was the biggest gainer in the Sensex kitty, rising 3.68 per cent, followed by Axis Bank, which advanced 2.82 per cent.

ICIC Bank jumped 2.30 per cent ahead of its results.