Mumbai, March 27 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with moderate gains in early afternoon trade, supported by continuous foreign fund inflows and buying in blue-chip stocks, aiding the recovery in equities. The Nifty traded above the 23,550 mark. Bank shares advanced after declining for the past two consecutive trading sessions. The Nifty monthly futures and options (F&O) contracts are set to expire today.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rallied 334.05 points or 0.44% to 77,624.63. The Nifty 50 index added 99.40 points or 0.42% to 23,586.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.02% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.12%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,705 shares rose ...