Jaiprakash Associates led gainers in early trade on reports that Ultratech was looking to buy the company's cement units in Himachal Pradesh. Other Nifty gainers were IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors and Tata Steel.

Software stocks were also trading with gains with Infosys and TCS being among the early gainers. ITC and HDFC Bank which had fallen in trade on Thursday saw buying interest.

Shree Renuka Sugars was trading lower after the company said it will sell shares to the Singapore based Wilmar to pare debt.

Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) gained ground in trade after the firm said that it was planning to sell stake in a few of the companies it holds shares in.

Mid cap stocks were trading higher with notable gainers being UPL, Voltas and Sun TV Network. Banking stocks which had fallen sharply in trade on Thursday gained ground on buying support at lower levels. Stocks that rallied were Yes Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

The only Nifty losers in trade today were Ultratech Cement, Bharti Airtel and Tata Power. Pharma stocks also saw buying interest with Divis Labs and Piramal being among the early gainers.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading higher with notable gainers being the Japanese Nikkei and the Seoul Composite.

GoodReturns.in