The Sensex was up 24 points in trade, while the Nifty lost 0.5 points in early trade. Among the Nifty stocks that saw maximum price damage was Kotak Bank which was down 4 per cent, while IndusInd Bank was down 1 per cent in early trade.

However, some other banking stocks like Bank of Baroda was up 1 per cent and Yes Bank too was up 2 per cent in early trade.

HDFC which had a spectacular rally on Thursday continued to grind higher along with HDFC Bank. Heavyweights, ITC and Reliance saw some profit booking in early trade and were marginally down.

Infosys continued to fall and was marginally down, while TCS was trading higher as a foreign brokerage upgraded the stock to buy with a higher price target.

The Mid cap index was trading higher with stocks like Tech Mahindra, Voltas, Opto Circuits and IFCI gaining in trade.

Metal stocks which so far had an excellent August month continued to rally on the back of buying support. Gainers from the pack were Tata Steel, Jindal saw and Steel Authority of India.

Meanwhile, markets in Asia were trading mostly trading higher except the Hang Sang and the Japanese Nikkei which were trading with marginal losses.

In India investors are likely to watch the GDP data which is due later today.

GoodReturns.in