Mumbai, Oct. 16 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with major gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 23,100 level. Media shares advanced after declining in the past trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex jumped 353.78 points or 0.48% to 74,669.39. The Nifty 50 index added 124.70 points or 0.54% to 23,123.30.

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 150 Index shed 0.04% and the Nifty Smallcap 250 Index rose 0.19%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,317 shares rose and 1,784 shares fell. A total of 257 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The government has raised a windfall tax on exports of petrol and reduced levies on diesel, according to a government notification issued lat...