The Sensex was trading with gains of 83 points, while the Nifty rallied 23 points in trade. ICICI Bank, NMDC, BPCL and Punjab National Bank drove gainers in early trade.

Tata Steel, however, was among the losers from the Nifty dropping more than 1.3 per cent, after its results failed to match expectations. The stock has also been downgraded by foreign brokerages.

Ranbaxy and Kotak Mahindra were the other losers in early trade.

Railway stocks were trading higher ahead of the Railway Budget with names like Titagarh Wagons, Kalindee Rail Nirman and Texmaco up almost 2 per cent in trade.

Reliance Industries was trading higher despite Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal ordering an FIR filing against Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani for alleged collusion in the hike in prices of natural gas from KG basin.

Coal India was trading soft ahead of its results to be declared later today. Cipla too lost ground ahead of its results.

Banking stocks were in the limelight with gainers from the space being ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Oriental Bank and Indian Overseas Bank.

Mid cap stocks too gained in line with the broad markets with notable gainers being Voltas, Reliance Communications and Hexaware.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading higher with gainers being the Hong Kong's Hang Sang, Japanese Nikkei and the Taiwan Weighted.

GoodReturns.in