The Nifty rally was led by Maruti which jumped a whopping 7 per cent, after the company said there would be approval from minority shareholders for the proposed Gujarat plant. Other notable Nifty winners were Sesa Sterlite, Hindalco, Coal India, Bhel and Gail.

Banking stocks were once again in the limelight with the Bank Nifty gaining 1 per cent in early trade. Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank and ICICI Bank led private sector banking gainers.

PSU banking stocks also saw buying interest at lower levels with notable gainers being Canara Bank, Allahabad Bank, IDBI Bank and heavyweight State Bank of India.

Software stocks which have seen selling pressure ever since Infosys guided for lower revenues were subdued in trade. TCS lost 0.5 per cent, while Infosys was trading almost unchanged at Rs 3396.

Mid cap stocks were also in the limelight with Jain Irrigation, HPCL and Reliance Capital among the early gainers.

Nifty losers in early trade were Hindustan Unilever, Hero Motor Corp and HDFC. Heavyweights, Reliance and ITC continued to support the market with gains.

Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were trading with gains led by the Hong Kong's Hang Sang, Taiwan Weighted and the Japanese Nikkei.

GoodReturns.in