Mumbai, Sept. 12 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with decent gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,100 level. Financial services shares extended their winning streak for the eighth consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex gained 397.16 points or 0.49% to 81,938.86. The Nifty 50 index rose 113.75 points or 0.45% to 25,119.25.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.12% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index jumped 0.28%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE 2,054 shares rose and 1,876 shares fell. A total of 213 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of vola...