Mumbai, Feb. 25 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with moderate gains in afternoon trade, supported by value buying at lower levels after a sharp decline over the last five trading sessions. The Nifty traded above the 22,550 mark after hitting day's low of 22,516.45 in early trade.

Media, auto and FMCG shares advanced while Metal, realty and PSU bank stocks corrected.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 210.18 points or 0.28% to 74,664.28. The Nifty 50 index added 20.50 points or 0.09% to 22,573.85.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.43% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.13%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,840 shares rose...