Mumbai, Feb. 20 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in the afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 25,500 level. Barring IT index shared while all other indices traded in green with PSU Bank, metal and FMCG shares gaining the most.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 354.85 points or 0.43% to 82,861.86. The Nifty 50 index jumped 91.65 points or 0.36% to 25,546.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.42% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index dropped 0.16%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,943 shares rose and 2,054 shares fell. A total of 207 shares were unchanged.

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