Mumbai, May 5 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with moderate gains in early trade, supported by easing global trade tensions and sustained foreign inflows and a continued rise in India's foreign exchange reserves, which climbed for the eighth straight week. Nifty traded above the 24,400 level. Oil & gas, FMCG and IT shares advanced, while private bank, realty and PSU bank stocks traded lower.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 197.33 points or 0.25% to 80,699.32. The Nifty 50 index rose 73.15 points or 0.30% to 24,419.85.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.59% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.25%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,761 shares rose and 1,208 sh...