Nifty gains on firm Asian stocks, foreign buying

Reuters Market Eye - The Nifty is up 0.3 percent 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 percent, and ITC Ltd up 0.8 percent.

Also, overseas investors bought shares worth 7.18 billion rupees ($117.55 million) on Wednesday.

However, Tata Steel is down 0.7 percent, while Oil and Natural Gas Corp is down 0.4 percent after their April-June earnings lagged estimates.

Markets are closed on Friday for Independence Day.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi)