Mumbai, Jul 27 (IANS): The key Indian equity indices traded on a positive note on Tuesday morning with the BSE Sensex gaining over 120 points.

Healthy buying was witnessed in metal stocks.

Around 10.25 a.m., Sensex was trading at 52,977.55, higher by 125.28 points or 0.24 per cent from its previous close of 52,852.27.

It opened at 52,995.72 and has so far touched an intra-day high of 53,024.70 and a low of 52,880.58 points.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 15,870.55, higher by 46.10 points or 0.29 per cent from its previous close.

Manish Hathiramani, technical analyst with Deen Dayal Investments said: "The Nifty continues to be spiritless in its momentum, the range-bound movement still persists. Until we do not get past 15,900 on the upside or break 15,400 on the downside, we will be far from witnessing a definite trend."

"While the propensity remains on the upside, the test of patience is challenging. A buy on dips can be looked as a possible trading strategy."

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, State Bank of India, while Axis Bank, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and HCL Technologies were the major losers so far.