Mumbai, Feb. 13 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded in sideways in early trade. The Nifty traded above the 23,000 level. Pharma, media and private bank shares advanced while IT, consumer durables and and FMCG stocks declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 35.16 points or 0.03% to 76,135.77. The Nifty 50 index added 3.05 points or 0.01% to 23,048.30.

In the broader market, The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.02%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.30%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,574 shares rose and 1,186 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 4,969.30 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were n...