Mumbai, April 22 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in early afternoon trade, supported by RBI's move to ease liquidity norms. Investor sentiment remained positive, aided by continued foreign institutional inflows. The Nifty traded above the 24,150 mark. FMCG shares advanced after declining for the previous trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex added 238.85 points or 0.30% to 79,638.90. The Nifty 50 index rose 70.60 points or 0.28% to 24,192.65.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 0.94% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.92%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,597 shares rose and 1,162 shares fell. A total of 17...