Mumbai, Oct. 17 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in mid-afternoon trade, supported by optimism around corporate earnings recovery and steady foreign fund inflows. The Nifty traded above the 24,850 mark. IT shares declined after gaining in the previous two trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 411.12 points or 0.49% to 83,955.75. The Nifty 50 index rose 58.50 points or 0.23% to 25,643.80.

In the broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.38% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.44%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,609 shares rose and 2,484 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.

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