Mumbai, March 12 -- The headline equity indices traded with minor gains in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,350 mark. IT shares gained after declining in the past trading session.

At 12:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 283 points or 0.39% to 73,785.64. The Nifty 50 index rose 42.65 points or 0.19% to 22,375.30.

The broader market underperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.29% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 2.38%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 586 shares rose and 3,196 shares fell. A total of 106 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

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