Mumbai, Nov. 8 -- The equity benchmarks continued to trade in positive terrain during the special Mahurat trading session, buoyed by festive optimism and supportive global and domestic cues. The Nifty traded above the 25,000 level. Pharma shares advanced for the fourth consecutive trading session.

At 15.10 PM IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 199.88 points or 0.25% to 81,227.90. The Nifty 50 index rose 6.35 points or 0.03% to 25,036.60.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index gained 0.42% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 1.39%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,161 shares rose and 798 shares fell. A total of 215 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Ph...