Mumbai, July 31 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with moderate gains in afternoon trade, hovering near their intraday highs, as upbeat June-quarter earnings, stock-specific buying and sustained foreign institutional inflows kept investor sentiment buoyant. The Nifty traded above the 24,400 mark and was close to its day's high of 24,429.40.

Media, auto and pharma shares adanced while IT and FMCG shares declined.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 334.18 points or 0.42% to 78,259.49. The Nifty 50 index added 105.10 points or 0.43% to 24,425.70.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.59% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index jumped 0.76%.

The market breadth was ...