Mumbai, Feb. 15 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with small gains in early-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 21,850 mark. Realty shares extended gains for the third consecutive trading session.

At 12:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 41.47 points or 0.06% to 71,864.30. The Nifty 50 index added 23.75 points or 0.11% to 21,863.80.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.71% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index advanced 1.19%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,377 shares rose and 1,361 shares fell. A total of 109 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose...