Mumbai, July 13 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with minor gains in the mid-afternoon trade, as investors looked past the escalation in the US-Iran conflict and shifted their focus to stock-specific developments and the ongoing first-quarter earnings season. Investor sentiment improved after a cautious start, with market participants selectively accumulating stocks amid corporate earnings announcements.

Going ahead, investors will closely monitor further developments in the US-Iran conflict, movements in crude oil prices, the ongoing Q1 earnings season, corporate business updates, and the progress of the southwest monsoon for cues on the market's near-term direction.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 1...