Mumbai, Aug. 11 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with moderate gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,400 level. Pharma shares advanced after declining for previous trading session. Market participants awaited key economic data releases scheduled for later in the week, including the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), Consumer Price Index (CPI), and the trade balance.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 266.90 points or 0.32% to 80,112.66. The Nifty 50 index added 80.65 points or 0.33% to 24,443.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.38% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.07%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,958 shares rose and 1,979 shares fell....