Indices have gained further in early afternoon trades. Steel stocks have rallied further while cement stocks are holding firm. The recovery in technology stocks has also helped the indices.

Sensex is trading higher by 40 points at 12827 at 01.10 PM.

Nifty is now trading higher by 13 points at 3746.

Tata Steel has surged ahead after a very positive start and is now trading 6 per cent higher. SAIL has added well over 2 per cent and Hindalco has gained 1.5 per cent.

Zee Entertainment has also moved up higher and is now trading well over 4 per cent higher.

Cement stocks are holding on to their early gains. Grasim is now trading 1.5 per cent higher while ACC and Gujarat Ambuja have added close to 1.5 per cent each.

PNB is the best performer among banking stocks with gains of close to 2.5 per cent.

Reliance Energy has made an up move and has added nearly 2 per cent.

HLL is holding on to gains of close to 1.5 per cent.

Reliance Industries has slipped close to a per cent while ONGC has come off its lows and is trading well over 0.5 per cent lower. IPCL is also down more than 0.5 per cent.

Dr. Reddy''s remains weak and is the worst performer among index stocks with losses of nearly 1.5 per cent. Glaxo and Sun Pharma are down over 0.5 per cent each.

Hero Honda is continuing its down trend and has lost over a per cent while Bajaj Auto has lost over 0.5 per cent.

Satyam has recovered part of its losses and is now trading 0.5 per cent lower.

Mid-caps and small caps have also gained further and continue to do better than large caps. The NSE mid-cap index is now trading with gains of close to 0.8 per cent. BSE mid-cap index is trading with gains of 0.65 per cent and the BSE small-cap index has added a per cent. Market breadth on the NSE remains positive in early afternoon trades.

Hyderabad Industries is locked in 20 per cent upper circuit while Abhishek Mills is trading 17.5 per cent higher.

JBM Auto and Educomp are locked in 10 per cent upper circuits.

Gujarat Ambuja Exports, Prakash Industries, Apar Industries, Sathavahana Ispat, Everest Industries and Shreyas Shipping are the other major mid-cap gainers.

Uniphos Enterprises, Pudumjee Agro, Khaitan Limited, Nissan Copper, Murli Industries, BBTC, GM Breweries and Granules India are the major mid-cap losers.