Mumbai, Aug. 24 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in early trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,300 level. IT, metal and realty shares advanced, while consumer durables, pharma and auto declined on the NSE.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, jumped 192.31 points or 0.25% to 77,744.85. The Nifty 50 index added 52.55 points or 0.22% to 24,304.55.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index advanced 0.27% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.48%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,195 shares rose and 1,138 shares fell. A total of 262 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 542.71 crore, while domestic institutional...