Indian equities, after a range-bound trade in the previous session, tracking weak Asian markets, opened higher. At the opening bell, the Nifty50 index opened higher by 0.2 per cent or 52 points at 25,593.9, while the BSE 30-share Sensex was up 166.42 points or 0.2 per cent at 83,863. Meanwhile, the Bank Nifty marked its new all-time high led by gains in ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank among others.

Broader markets, meanwhile, continued to perform with resilience, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 index last up 0.14 per cent.

On the positive front, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the US and India will soon finalise a trade deal with “much lower tariffs".

From the Nifty50 pack, top gainers in early trade included stocks like Infosys, Wipro, TCS, Tech Mahindra and Hero MotoCorp, while laggards were IndusInd Bank, Apollo Hospitals, Nestle, Shriram Finance and Nestle.

In a mixed sectoral performance, IT pack led the gains, followed by the metal index, with other sectoral gainers being auto, pharma, realty, consumer durables and oil & gas. Nonetheless, financial services, private bank and FMCG indices traded with mild weakness.

Nazara Technologies: An open offer by Plutus Wealth, Axana Estates and Junomoneta Finsol for a 26 per cent stake in Nazara Tech, at Rs 990 per share, is set to conclude on Wednesday. 

NMDC: The company has registered a 6.0 per cent incrase in iron ore production to 3.57 million tonnes in June. In the fiscal first quarter, its iron ore production jumped 30 per cent to 11.99 million tonnes. 

South Indian Bank: The private sector lender has reported an 8 per cent increase in gross advances with 9 per cent growth in in deposits for the June quarter.   Its CASA deposits have grown 9 per cent to Rs 36,204 crore during this period. 

Asian Paints: Fair trade regulator CCI has passed a prima facie order against Asian Paints over an alleged abuse of its market position in the decorative paint segment. The development follows a complaint filed by Grasim against Asian Paints this month, alleging that Asian Paints discouraged dealers from stocking Birla Opus products. Grasim recently entered the domestic paints market with its brand Birla Opus.

Asian Paints has decided to review the order and take appropriate legal recourse, fully cooperating with the investigators. 

Most Asian stocks in Wednesday's session declined as investors tracked US trade deals as the July 9 tariff deadline looms. As of the last count, the key MSCI Asia ex Japan index was up by a tad 0.05 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei, meanwhile, nursed a sharp decline of nearly 1 per cent as US President Donald Trump cast doubt on inking a deal with Tokyo.

After a mixed overnight session, the US index futures largely traded steady in Asian trading hours.