Mumbai, Dec. 18 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with modest gains in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,850 mark. IT shares extended gains for the second consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 124.10 points or 0.15% to 84,683.75. The Nifty 50 index added 65.45 points or 0.25% to 25,879.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.12% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.21%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,645 shares rose and 2,281 shares fell. A total of 180 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.37% to 9.70. The Nifty 30 ...