Mumbai, Feb. 2 -- The domestic equity benchmarks pared all early losses and traded with modest gains in the afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,850 mark. Auto shares advanced after declining in the previous trading session.

At 12:28 ST, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 383.84 points or 0.48% to 81,105.96. The Nifty 50 index added 70.15 points or 0.30% to 24,895.60.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 1.10% and the S&P BSE 250 SmallCap Index declined 1.42%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,189 shares rose and 2,779 shares fell. A total of 197 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near te...