Among the early winners in trade were Coal India, Sun pharma, Jaiprakash Associates, Hindalco and ONGC.

NMDC rose sharply after the company said that production was up substantially for the quarter ending Dec 30, 2013.

PSU banking stocks came in for some selling pressure in early morning trade with notable losers being Bank of Baroda, Bank of India and IDBI Bank.

However, Syndicate Bank and Union Bank continued to rally in trade.

Software stocks continued to trade firm ahead of the results of Infosys. Among early gainers in trade apart from Infosys were HCL Tech and Tata Consultancy Services.

Mid cap stocks which have been gaining ground substantially in trade in the last few sessions were trading soft. Among the losers from the space were Bharat Forge, IGL and UPL.

State owned telecom company, MTNL continued its phenomenal run in trade and rallied another two per cent today. The stock was up substantially on Tuesday after reports that the government would refund some amounts due on spectrum.

Zuari Fertilisers gained ground after reports hinted that the company was keen to exit Mangalore Chemical and Fertilisers by February.

Meanwhile, markets across Asia were trading significantly higher with the Japanese Nikkei and the Singapore Strait Times among the top gaining indices.

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