Mumbai, Sept. 18 -- The headline equity indices traded with modest gains in the early-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,400 level. Private bank shares extending gains for the eighth consecutive trading session.

At 12:27 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 307.87 points or 0.37% to 82,992.82. The Nifty 50 index added 89.95 points or 0.33% to 25,414.20.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.05% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.05%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,196 shares rose and 1,799 shares fell. A total of 196 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 2.92% to 9.95. Th...