Markets are sustaining the uptrend after yesterday's strong rally. The Sensex went within 5 points of the 12000 mark before giving up.

Asian markets are mixed today even after decent gains for US indices yesterday. Among the major gainers, Japan and South Korea have added well over a per cent each. Oil prices are continuing the recovery and have added nearly 50 cents per barrel to move past $64.5 in Asian trades.

Sensex opened at 11937 and saw a high of 11995. The index is trading higher by 57 points at 11951 at 11.10 AM.

Nifty opened at 3455 and touched a high of 3484. The index is now trading higher by 17 points at 3472.

Zee Tele is the best performer among index stocks in early trades and has added more than 4 per cent.

There are no signs of weakness in OBC, which has been one of the best performers over the last week. The stock has added nearly 2.5 per cent.

Dr Reddy's remains the best performing pharma stock today as well and has added more than 2 per cent. Ranbaxy has gained 1.5 per cent. Both companies are rumoured to be close to more overseas acquisitions.

Satyam has gained more than 2 per cent and is the biggest gainer among index stocks after a large block deal was reported. The company has denied rumours that IBM has picked up the shares.

Suzlon Energy is also continuing the rally and has added another 2 per cent.

Gail India, Grasim, Dabur and MTNL are the other major gainers among index stocks.

There are only 5 losers among Nifty stocks in morning trades. Hero Honda has come under profit booking after rallying nearly 10 per cent in a week. The stock is the worst performer among index stocks, trading more than a per cent lower.

Reliance Communications is continuing the downtrend from yesterday and has lost over a per cent.

Siemens, Glaxo and HDFC are the other losers among index stocks.

Mid-caps and small caps have also rallied further and are doing better than the large caps. Though some of yesterday's gainers are facing profit booking, others continue to rally ahead.

The NSE mid-cap index is now trading with gains of over 1.1 per cent. BSE mid-cap index is trading with gains of over 0.9 per cent and the small-cap index has also added more than 0.9 per cent. Market breadth on the NSE is firmly positive in morning trades with nearly 3 stocks advancing for every declining stock.

ITI has added another 11 per cent after rallying nearly 19 per cent yesterday. IndiaBulls has bounced back after yesterday's correction and has added nearly 8 per cent.

Subhash Projects, Kothari Products, DCM Sriram, Godavari Power and Ispat, KCP and Noida Toll are among the major mid-cap gainers.

Birla VXL has corrected after rallying for many days. The stock is down 5 per cent.

BPL, Philips Carbon, Softpro, Orient Paper, NRC and Andhra Sugar are the major mid-cap losers.