Mumbai, Jan. 28 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in early afternoon trade, following the Reserve Bank of India's announcement of several measures to boost liquidity in the banking system. The Nifty traded above the 23,000 level. Financial services shares gained after declining for the previous three consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 760.26 points or 1.02% to 76,134.21. The Nifty 50 index advanced 181.25 points or 0.79% to 23,010.40.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.44% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.92%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 848 shares rose and 2,940 shares fell. A t...