Mumbai, Oct. 29 -- The frontline benchmarks continued to trade with modest gains in the mid-morning trade as investors remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision later in the day. The Nifty traded above the 26,000 level, while oil & gas stocks advanced after declining in past trading sessions.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 264.18 points or 0.31% to 84,892.34. The Nifty 50 index rose 106.45 points or 0.41% to 26,041.75.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.27% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.22%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,322 shares rose and 1,512 shares fell. A total of 207 shares were unchanged....