Some volatility was seen in opening trades today as well and the indices moved in a band after opening with modest gains. Sharp gains in Reliance Industries have helped the indices to surge ahead in mid-morning trades.

The Sensex opened at 12344 and touched a new lifetime high of 12415. The index is trading higher by 104 points at 12414 at 11.10 AM.

The Nifty opened at 3631 and touched a new lifetime high of 3658 and is trading higher by 22 points at 3657.

Reliance Industries surged after a subdued opening and has added close to 4 per cent, providing considerable support to the indices. Group company IPCL is trading nearly 3 per cent higher.

Zee Tele has bounced back from yesterday's correction and was the biggest gainer among index stocks in opening trades. The stock is trading with gains of more than 3 per cent.

Stocks of oil marketing companies are holding firm today as well. Talk of a further price hike and further decline in crude oil prices yesterday are helping them. BPCL and HPCL are trading with gains of over 2 per cent each.

MTNL, which underperformed its telecom peers yesterday, has added over 1.5 per cent.

ICICI Bank is continuing the rally and has added over 1.5 per cent.

Cipla, Tata Motors and BHEL are among the other gainers.

Gujarat Ambuja, which announced the merger of group company Ambuja Eastern yesterday, is the biggest loser among index stocks and is trading 2 per cent lower. Traders are disappointed that Holcim is not revising its open offer price.

Other cement stocks are continuing their weak trend from the last two sessions. Both ACC and Grasim have lost over 0.5 per cent each.

ONGC has lost close to a per cent following the decline in crude oil prices yesterday.

VSNL has come under profit booking and has lost close to a per cent.

Maruti, HLL, Tata Tea, Dr Reddy and Nalco are among the other losers.

Mid-caps are also firm in early trades with many individual stocks flying around. The index is trading with gains of around 0.5 per cent. Market breadth on the NSE is highly positive with more than two stocks advancing for every declining stock.

Stocks of companies having land holdings are rallying today as well. Adani Exports, Premier Limited and Hindustan Motors are among such stocks, which have gained over 10 per cent each.

RNRL is locked in the 5 per cent lower circuit on reports that the government is opposed to the company's deal with RIL to purchase gas at below market price.

Bindal Agro, GMR Industries and Rajvir are among the major gainers in mid-caps.

RCF, Zenith Computers and NEPC Micon are among the mid-cap losers.