The Sensex was trading higher by 48 points, while the Nifty gained 10 points in early trade.

Shares of housing finance company, HDFC was trading steady and was up 0.21 per cent ahead of its results.

State Bank of India gained marginally after the bank said there would be fresh capital infusion into the bank by the government. The stock was trading higher by 0.40 per cent at Rs 2502.

Hindalco Industries was trading firm in early trade after reports that the 1.5-million-tonne alumina refinery project of Utkal Alumina International (UAIL), is finally taking off by the end of March or first week of April.

Oil marketing companies which had rallied sharply in trade on Friday following the government's move to de-regulate diesel prices were all trading lower on profit booking. Shares of BPCL, HPCL, ONGC and Indian Oil were all trading with losses.

Banking shares were among the losers in trade today with the Bank Nifty trading lower. Amongst the banking names that lost ground today were Indusind Bank, ICICI Bank, Yea Bank and HDFC Bank.

Hindustan Unilever continued to see profit taking for the second day in a row with the stock losing half per cent in early trade.

Realty stocks were trading mixed with Oberoi Realty and Sobha gaining ground, while DLF, HDIL and DB Realty lost ground.

Most of the metals stocks were trading in the green with notable gainers including Tata Steel, JSW Steel, NALCO and Jindal Steel.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia were trading higher with the Shanghai Composite, Singapre's Strait Times and Hong Kong's Hang Sang all trading with gains.

GoodReturns.in