Equity benchmarks rise in afternoon trade, Sensex at 78,788.13, Nifty at 23,846.35, auto and banking stocks lead gains.

January typically tends to be a slower month according to the past decade’s seasonality, with Nifty often closing in the red 70 per cent of the time.

Market experts expect the indices to consolidate within a narrow range for the rest of the year, as the lack of major positive or negative triggers limits market movement