Mumbai, Nov. 12 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with major gains in the early-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded tad above the 25,900 level. Barring the FMCG sector, all other sectors traded in the green.

At 12:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, zoomed 696.99 points or 0.83% to 84,568.31. The Nifty 50 index surged 212.60 points or 0.83% to 25,905.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.46% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.70%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,484 shares rose and 1,600 shares fell. A total of 176 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, was fell 3.06% to 12.11...