At 11:37 am, the Sensex traded 31.86 points - or 0.08 per cent - higher at 40,707.31 and the Nifty was up 7.05 points (0.06 per cent) at 12,001.25.

Twenty seven stocks on the 50-scrip index traded higher at the time. Top gainers were Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, Bharti Infratel, Axis Bank and Hero MotoCorp, up between 1.13 per cent and 4.24 per cent each.

On the other hand, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel, Coal India, Reliance Industries and Bajaj Finserv - trading between 0.91 per cent and 1.51 per cent lower - were the top losers on the index.

ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Tata Motors were the top contributors to the gains in Sensex.

Market breadth was largely positive, with 926 stocks trading higher and 838 moving lower on the BSE. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), 868 shares advanced while 778 declined.

Analysts awaited the outcome of a bi-monthly review meeting of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee due on Thursday.

Many economists expect the central bank to deliver its sixth rate cut of the year, despite consumer inflation breaching its medium-term target of 4 per cent for the first time in 15 months in October.

Equities in other Asian markets declined as investors turned increasingly anxious on no signs of a breakthrough in the US-China trade deal logjam.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.85 per cent lower on Thursday. Japan's Nikkei 225 index was down 1.25 per cent at the time.