Mumbai, March 7 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with minor gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,550 mark. Metal shares extended gains for the five consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 75.05 points, or 0.09%, to 74,409.27. The Nifty 50 index rose 32.30 points, or 0.13%, to 22,574.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.13% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.05%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,579 shares rose and 1,361 shares fell. A total of 109 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index rose 0.27% to 8,912.45. The index jumped 8.43% in the five consecutive trading sessions.

Welspun C...