Benchmark indices opened the day in the negative, as Asian markets saw some profit booking after the strong rally seen on Thursday.

The Sensex was trading with losses of 21 points, while the Nifty was down 11 points in trade. GAIL was the top gainer from the Nifty surging a huge 4 per cent in early trade. Dr Reddy's also saw some buying support after the stock was beaten down heavily in the last few trading sessions.

Banking stocks were among the early losers in trade with Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IndusInd Bank among the early losers in trade. Punj Lloyd, which bagged two rural electrification orders was trading with gains of 2 per cent in early trade.

Midcap stocks were seeing good traction in trade with Havells and Jubilant Foodworks up 2 per cent each. Jindal Steel on the other hand was up 6 per cent each. The midcap index was up almost 1 per cent, despite the Sensex and the Nifty both trading lower.

Meanwhile, markets across Asia were trading with marginal losses, after profit booking, following gains on Thursday. The Japanese Nikkei, the Hang Sang and the Taiwan Weighted were all lower.

GoodReturns.in