Mumbai, Sept. 3 -- The key equity barometers traded sideways in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 23,950 mark. Private bank shares advanced after declining in the past two trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 40.86 points or 0.05% to 76,611.21. The Nifty 50 index lost 6.15 points or 0.03% to 23,907.85.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.13% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.98%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,463 shares rose and 1,619 shares fell. A total of 247 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 1.83% to 11.38. The Nifty 29 September 20...