Mumbai, Oct. 29 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with decent gains in the early afternoon trade. Investors tracked Q2 earnings reports from several companies, while keeping close watch on the development around India-US trade deal, the upcoming US FED policy decision, crude oil prices and IPO activity. The Nifty scaled above the 26,050 mark.

Pharma shares advanced after declining in the past four trading session.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, soared 312.21 points or 0.37% to 84,950.81. The Nifty 50 index rose 123.45 points or 0.47% to 26,059.30.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.36% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.31%.

The market br...