The BSE Sensex was trading higher by 80 points at 17,739 points at 9.30 am IST, while the S&P CNX Nifty was trading higher by 21 points at 5384 points.

Index gainers today included Tata Motors, HUL and Cairn India. Among the losers in early trade were Hindalco, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and DLF.

Shares of Reliance Industries which spurted more than 2% in trade on Thursday was trading steady at Rs 822. ITC, which sold off heavily on Thursday following speculation of regulatory intervention, gained almost one per cent in early trade.

Today's momentum in stocks can be largely attributed to strong global cues, following German Chancellor Angela Merkel's comments to do everything to save the euro.

"We repeated time and again since the beginning of the Greek difficulties more than two years ago. We feel committed to do everything we can to maintain the common currency. The European Central Bank, although it is of course independent, is completely in line with what we have said all along," the German Chancellor said on Thursday.

Her comments sparked a rally across the globe, with Europe and US indices closing in the green and Asian indices opening higher on Friday morning.

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