The Sensex was trading with gains of 77 points, while the Nifty rallied 19 points in early trade. Among the winners in trade were Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Dr Reddy's Labs.

State Bank of India was trading with gains ahead of its results to be declared later today. Banking stocks which fell sharply on Thursday saw some buying support with Yes Bank gaining 1 per cent, while Punjab National Bank also gained 1 per cent and Bank of Baroda 1.6 per cent.

Cipla which had fallen sharply on Thursday, following a dismal set of results was trading flat.

Shares in Future Retail rallied three per cent after the RBI lifted FII restrictions for buying shares in the company. However, ITI fell despite the government okaying financial assistance for the company.

Mid cap stocks were having a good day in trade with notable gainers being Reliance Communications, Voltas, India Cements and Unitech.

However, Allahabad Bank and Petronet LNG lost ground in trade. Realty stocks which had gained substantial ground on Thursday shed gains with Sobha Developers, Godrej Properties and Oberoi Realty being among the early losers in trade.

Meanwhile, Asian markets rallied following higher than expected Chinese Inflation data. The Hong Kong's Hang Sang, the Shanghai Composite and the Seoul Composite were all trading with gains.

GoodReturns.in