Mumbai, Dec. 23 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade near flat line in mid-morning trade. Market participants are also closely tracking rupee movement, FII activity, ongoing IPO activity, and global cues. The Nifty traded above the 26,150 mark.

Oil & gas shares saw buying interest for third consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:25 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 21.85 points or 0.03% to 85,545.63. The Nifty 50 index advanced 9.30 points or 0.04% to 26,182.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.08% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.42%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,226 shares rose and 1,718 shares fell. A total of 229 shares were unc...