Mumbai, July 31 -- The key equity barometers traded with modest gains in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,350 mark. Pharma shares advanced after declining in the past trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 186.87 points or 0.24% to 78,115.02. The Nifty 50 index rallied 69.60 points or 0.29% to 24,386.35.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.52% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose 0.77%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,536 shares rose and 1,436 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, fell 2.20% to...