Mumbai, July 30 -- The key equity barometers traded with minor gains in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,250 mark. Oil & gas shares extended their gains for the second consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 40.41 points or 0.05% to 77,695.01. The Nifty 50 index rallied 17.30 points or 0.07% to 24,267.10.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index shed 0.26% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 0.53%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,617 shares rose and 2,347 shares fell. A total of 213 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term...