Mumbai, April 23 -- The benchmark indices traded with decent gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered above the 22,400 level. Auto shares extended gains for the third consecutive trading session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 204.89 points or 0.29% to 73,858.99. The Nifty 50 index added 65.15 points or 0.29% to 22,401.55.

The the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.70% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 1.11%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,362 shares rose and 1,402 shares fell. A total of 141 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, tumbled 22.12% to 9.89. Volatility zoomed as traders roll o...