The benchmark indexes traded with mild gains in late morning deals, as strength in information technology, pharmaceutical and media sectors was countered by weakness in metal and automobile counters.

At 11:25 am: the Sensex traded 46.27 points - or 0.13 per cent - higher at 37,023.12, while the Nifty was up 7.40 points - or 0.07 per cent - at 10,955.65.

The Reserve Bank of India was due to release its third bi-monthly policy statement of the current financial year shortly. The central bank is widely expected to cut the repo rate - the key interest rate at which it lends short-term funds to commercial banks.

Top percentage gainers on the 50-scrip index at the time were Zee Entertainment, Yes bank, Cipla, HUL, IndusInd Bank, Hero MotoCorp and Sun Pharma, trading between 1.46 per cent and 6.55 per cent higher.

On the other hand, top laggards on the index were Indiabulls Housing Finance, Titan, Tata Steel, Bharat Petroleum, Indian Oil and ONGC, down between 1.67 per cent and 8.20 per cent.

HUL, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys contributed the most to the advances in Sensex, whereas Reliance Industries, HDFC and ITC were the biggest drags.

Market breadth favoured gains, with 1,234 stocks trading higher and 797 struggling with losses. On the NSE, 1,085 shares advanced while 564 declined.

Indiabulls Housing Finance shares fell as much as 9.12 per cent in intraday trade, a day after the mortgage lender reported a fall of 24 per cent in net profit to Rs 801.53 crore in the quarter ended June 30.

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation shares fell on Wednesday, after surging over 32 per cent in the previous session. On Tuesday, the debt-laden shadow bank said its creditors would not have to take any haircuts on principal payments under its resolution plan.