Mumbai, April 7 -- Domestic equity benchmarks erased early losses and moved higher, trading with modest gains in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty bounced back above the 23,000 mark after dipping to a day's low of 22,719.30 in morning trade. IT stocks continued their upward momentum, marking gains for the fourth straight session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 155.38 points or 0.21% to 74,262.23. The Nifty 50 index gained 72.80 points or 0.31% to 23,041.05.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.21% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.15%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,636 shares rose and 1,492 shares fell. A total of 163 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge ...