Domestic stocks drifted higher in early trade, extending their prior six-day rising trend. At 9:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 100.18 points or 0.28% at 36,447.26. The Nifty 50 index was up 39.25 points or 0.36% at 10,947.95

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.69%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.57%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On the BSE, 1025 shares rose and 350 shares fell. A total of 63 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian stocks traded mixed Wednesday following a volatile US session. US stocks nudged higher on Tuesday in a volatile day as investors braced for Wednesday's Federal Reserve policy decision against the backdrop of recent turmoil in global markets.

The Federal Reserve wraps up its final policy meeting of 2018 on Wednesday. The Federal Open Market Committee is expected to raise its short-term interest rate by a modest quarter-point to a range of 2.25% to 2.5%. Investors are closely watching the Federal Reserve monetary policy guidance for 2019. The central bank forecasts three more rate hikes in 2019, but softer global growth could cause a shift in its hawkish stance. The Bank of Japan's monetary policy decision is due Thursday, followed by a briefing from Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. A Bank of England decision is also due on Thursday.

Back home, NTPC rose 0.07%. NTPC announced that unit 6 of 500 MW capacity of Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Station has been synchronized with grid after boiler restoration. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 December 2018.

Biocon rose 0.55%. Ogivri, a biosimilar Trastuzumab jointly developed by Biocon and Mylan, has been approved in the European Union (EU). The announcement was made before market hours today, 19 December 2018.

The European Commission has granted Marketing Authorization for Ogivri to Mylan. The European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) previously issued a positive opinion recommending approval of Ogivri as a biosimilar to Roche's Herceptin (Trastuzumab) on 18 October 2018. Ogivri is indicated for the treatment of patients with HER2 positive early breast cancer (EBC), metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and metastatic gastric cancer (MGC). Under supervision of the relevant healthcare professional it can be prescribed as either monotherapy or in combination with other medicines dependent on the relevant diagnosis.

J. Kumar Infraprojects surged 5.67% after the company said it is in receipt of letter of acceptance from National Highways Authority in the name of J.Kumar — J.M. Mhatre (JV) in which J.Kumar is the lead partner for construction of Dwarka Expressway from Shiv Murti Intersection at Km.20 of NH-8 till Rail Under Bridge (RUB) near Dwarka Sector - 21, from Km 0.800 to Km 5.300 package — l in Delhi on EPC mode amounting to Rs 1349 crore. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 18 December 2018.