The benchmark BSE Sensex gained nearly 50 points and the NSE index Nifty held above the 10,450-mark in early trade amid lack of directional cues from global markets.

At 9.15 a.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was up 48.87 points at 33,826.25 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was up 18.15 points at 10,462.35.

Asian markets offered a muted reaction to the passage of US tax cuts as benefits to company bottom lines were already baked into stock prices, while bonds were spooked by the blowout in government debt needed to fund the giveaways.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia–Pacific shares outside Japan dipped 0.1 per cent in thin trade, while Australian stocks lost 0.3 per cent. Japan's Nikkei eased 0.3 per cent, though a softening yen should provide some support to exporters.

Having spent more than a year anticipating the bill, its actual passage proved something of an anticlimax for Wall Street. The Dow fell 0.11 per cent, while the S&P 500 lost 0.08 per cent and the Nasdaq 0.04 per cent.