The Sensex was trading higher by 174 points, while the Nifty was trading higher by 52 points at 6431 points. Among the early gainers in trade were Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Larsen and Toubro, Tata Power, Tata Steel and ONGC.
Banking stocks continued to rally with ICICI Bank leading gainers once again, with other banking stocks like Yes Bank,

Union Bank and Syndicate Bank among the gainers.
Software stocks, however, were subdued in trade with notable losers being Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys.

Mid cap stocks also saw buying interest with notable gainers being Crompton Greaves, Siemens, Voltas and Steel Authority of India.

Drug firm Lupin gained ground after the company said that the company received an US FDA approval to market a generic version of Bayer's Cipro.

Shares in construction company NCC, fell after rating agency downgraded its debt ratings.
Another pharma major Sun Pharma also gained ground after reports that the company was looking for partnerships or acquisitions to enter Japan.

The stock of Astra Zeneca which has fallen consistently in the last few trading sessions after a deferment over its delisting plans, rallied 3 per cent in trade.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading higher following strong closings across the US markets.

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