Nifty gains on firm Asian stocks, foreign buying

Mumbai: The Nifty is up 0.3 per cent tracking firm Asian shares, headed for fourth consecutive day of gains. Soft global economic data sparks hopes of continued monetary stimulus.

Blue-chips stocks lead, with HDFC Bank Ltd  up 2.2 per cent, and ITC Ltd  up 0.8 per cent. Also, overseas investors bought shares worth 7.18 billion rupees ($117.55 million) on Wednesday.

However, Tata Steel is down by 0.7 per cent, while Oil and Natural Gas Corp is down 0.4 per cent after their April-June earnings lagged estimates. Markets are closed on Friday for Independence Day.