Frontline indices are holding on to modest gains, even as mid-caps and small caps have rallied ahead. Other Asian markets remain mixed while Europe also has had a mixed opening.

Sensex is trading higher by 21 points at 13728 at 01.10 PM.

Nifty is now trading higher by 6 points at 3961.

Engineering stocks continued to trade with very good gains. ABB and Siemens are trading nearly 4 per cent each higher while BHEL is up nearly 3.5 per cent. L&T is up almost 3 per cent while Suzlon Energy has added close to 3.5 per cent.

Glaxo is the best performer among index stocks, trading more than 4.5 per cent higher.

Among oil marketing stocks, BPCL is up close to 2.5 per cent and HPCL is trading nearly 2 per cent higher.

Zee Tele has gained strength and is up nearly 2.5 per cent.

Tata Power is holding on to gains of over 2 per cent.

Satyam has slipped further and remains the worst performer among index stocks, with losses of more than 2.5 per cent. Among other tech stocks, HCL Tech is down over 1.5 per cent.

ONGC remains weak by nearly 1.5 per cent on reports that the company may be denied new domestic exploration blocks in the last round of bidding.

Sun Pharma has lost nearly a per cent while Cipla is down more than 0.5 per cent.

Reliance Energy has come off its lows and is down nearly a per cent.

Bharti remains weak by more than a per cent.

HLL, PNB and Nalco are the other losers.

Mid-caps and small caps have gained further after a firm opening. The NSE mid-cap index is now trading with gains of close to 0.9 per cent. BSE mid-cap has also gained almost 0.75 per cent and the small-cap index is trading with gains of nearly 0.8 per cent. Market breadth on the NSE remains modestly positive in early afternoon trades.

Adani Enterprises, Kinetic Motors, Saregama, Binani Industries, Swaraj Mazda and Vindhya Tele are all locked in the 10 per cent upper circuits.

SPL Industries, Adlabs and Mid-Day are among the major mid-cap gainers.

Hitachi Home, Softpro, Dhanalakshmi Bank, Arvee Denim, Nova Petro, Reliance Industrial Infrastructure, BIL and Supreme Industries are the major mid-cap losers.