Mumbai, April 29 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in the early afternoon trade, driven by robust earnings, growing optimism over a potential early end to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and other supportive factors that lifted investor sentiment. The Nifty climbed above the 24,300 level, while FMCG stocks rebounded after declining in the previous trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 1013.99 points or 1.32% to 77,900.90. The Nifty 50 index soared 313.30 points or 1.31% to 24,309.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped 0.80% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index surged 1.02%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,498 shares rose and 1,515 sha...