Mumbai, March 25 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with limited gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 23,650 mark. Private bank shares extended gains for the seventh consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 80 points or 0.10% to 78,074.68. The Nifty 50 index rose 17.60 points or 0.07% to 23,675.95.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.24% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.71%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,986 shares rose and 1,068 shares fell. A total of 112 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term...