Mumbai, Feb. 17 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in the afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,700 level. PSU bank, IT and consumer durables shares advanced, while metal, oil & gas and private bank shares advanced.

At 13:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 247.35 points or 0.30% to 83,524.50. The Nifty 50 index added 61.55 points or 0.24% to 25,744.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.28% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.83%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,494 shares rose and 1,523 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 5.34% to 12.62...