Mumbai, Aug. 25 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in the early afternoon trade, driven by strong performance in IT stocks. The upbeat sentiment was echoed across Asian markets, which tracked overnight gains on Wall Street after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a potential interest rate cut next month.

The Nifty traded above the 24,950 mark. Media shares declined after advancing in the past trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 364.97 points or 0.45% to 81,671.82. The Nifty 50 index gained 105.35 points or 0.42% to 24,976.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.40% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.23...