Mumbai, March 12 -- The key equity indices traded with decent gains in afternoon trade. The Nifty scaled above the 22,350 mark. Pharma, FMCG and IT shares advanced while media and banking stocks declined.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 323.42 points or 0.44% to 73,826.06. The Nifty 50 index rose 58.80 points or 0.26% to 22,391.45.

The broader market underperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.21% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 2.23%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 584 shares rose and 3,249 shares fell. A total of 90 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India rose 11% year-on-year in February, as sports utility vehicles continued ...