Key indices hovered with small gains in early afternoon trade. At 12:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 29.37 points or 0.08% at 37,838.28. The Nifty 50 index was up 9.80 points or 0.09% at 11,364.05. IT stocks saw mixed trend.

Local stocks were trading with small gains in early trade. A bout of volatility was seen as the key indices extended gains in morning trade. Stocks hovered in positive zone in mid-morning trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.58%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.25%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1258 shares rose and 1097 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

IT stocks saw mixed trend. TCS (down 1.15%), Infosys (down 2.07%), Wipro (down 0.9%), Tech Mahindra (down 2.22%), Hexaware Technologies (down 0.09%) declined. Oracle Financial Services Software (up 0.02%), HCL Technologies (up 1.02%), MindTree (up 0.32%) and Mphasis (up 0.18%) rose.

Trident rose 2.07% after the company said it received a patent for environment friendly fabric in the US. Trident has been granted a patent for environment friendly fabric and its method of manufacturing by United States Patent & Trademark Office. The present invention enables Trident to manufacture fabric for bed & bath products without the use of chemically harmful fibers and at the same time allowing the fabric to be absorbent, easy to dry and highly breathable. Consumers across the globe prefer such bed and bath products, the company said in a statement. The announcement was made during trading hours today, 26 March 2019.

Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading higher. U.S. stocks closed mostly lower Monday after data showing weakness on the global economic front triggered heavy losses at the end of last week while investors continued to fret over the inversion of the yield curve. However, the Dow bucked the trend to rise as shares of Boeing Co. rallied after recent losses.

Meanwhile, the markets showed little reaction to the end of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.