Mumbai, Feb. 26 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in the early trade. The Nifty traded near the 25,500 level. PSU bank, IT and healthcare shares advanced, while realty, metal and consumer durables stocks declined.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 29.73 points or 0.05% to 82,305.80. The Nifty 50 index gained 14.70 points or 0.05% to 25,499.90.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.18% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.05%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,828 shares rose and 1,037 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 2,991.64 crore, while domestic in...