Mumbai, July 17 -- The key equity barometers traded with major gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 24,250 mark. Financial Services shared advanced after declining for previous session.

At 12:28 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 818.98 points or 1.06% to 78,005.85. The Nifty 50 index added 205.90 points or 0.86% to 24,278.65.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 0.56% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 1.23%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE 1,464 shares rose and 2,488 shares fell. A total of 206 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives :

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 3% to 13.27. The Nifty 28 July 2026 futures were trading at...