Among the early gainers in trade were DLF, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors, IDFC and Reliance Infra. Shares of ITC which have been falling following the imposition of excise duties in the Union Budget gained ground today. The stock was trading 1.35 per cent higher.

Heavyweight, Reliance Industries also saw buying support following an upgrade by Morgan Stanley earlier on Monday.

Metal major Hindalco which fell sharply on Monday following a problem with regulatory hurdles at one of its plants, saw buying interest at lower levels. The stock was up more than 1 per cent in early trade.

Among the losers in trade were Bharti Airtel, ACC Power Grid Corporation, Dr Reddy's Labs, Coal India, Lupin Labs and TCS.

PSU banks which have also dropped sharply in the last few trading sessions, saw buying support at lower levels on hopes that there would be an improvement in non performing asset levels. Stocks from the sector that gained were Union Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Bank of India.

Realty stocks also saw buying interest led by strong gains in DLF. Other realty stocks that gained were Anant Raj, DB Realty, Oberoi, Sobha Developers and Unitech.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia were trading higher led by strong gains in the Chinese markets. The Hong Kong's Hang Sang and the Korean Kospi were all trading with gains.

GoodReturns.in