Mumbai, Oct. 5 -- The key equity benchmarks pared most of their early gains and traded with marginal gains in early afternoon trade, amid elevated crude oil prices and continued selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs). The Nifty traded below the 22,450 mark, while investor sentiment remained cautious amid weak global cues.

Pharma shares extended their losing streak for the third consecutive trading session.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex added 79.60 points or 0.13% to 72,008.23. The Nifty 50 index rose 33.15 points or 0.12% to 22,446.20.

In the broader market, the Nify MidCap 150 Index shed 0.10% and the Nifty SmallCap 250 Index fell 0.02%.

The market breadth was negative. On the NSE, 1,557 shares rose...