The Sensex was trading higher by 23 points, while the Nifty gained 7 points in early trade. Among the gainers in trade were Larsen and Toubro, Jaiprakash Associates, Jindal Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid and Reliance Infra.

The losers in early trade were ACC, Cairn India, DLF, IDFC, NTPC, Reliance and ONGC. Banking stocks which saw huge selling pressure following the Union Budget were trading steady. ICICI Bank, Union Bank, Yes Bank, State Bank and Punjab National Bank gained.

IT stocks continued to remain resilient and grind higher with Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Infosys and Polaris among the early gainers.

Realty stocks continued to have a bad day for the second successive day with DLF dropping 4 per cent in early trade. Other losers from the realty pack were Anant Raj, Sobha Developers and DB Realty.

United Spirits surged more than 4 per cent after the Competition Commission of India approved United Spirits-Diageo deal.

Aviation stocks lost marginal ground on reports that there would be a hike in aviation turbine fuel. Wind turbine major, Suzlon was having a good day and the stock surged 14 per cent after promoters raised fund for CDR via stake sale of 6.19% worth Rs 240.4 crore.

Meanwhile, stocks in Asia were having a quiet day of trade. The Chinese Shanghai Composite and the Hong Kong's Hang Sang dipped marginally, while the Korean Kospi and the Japanese Nikkei edged higher.

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