Mumbai, April 29 -- The'domestic'equity'benchmarks'traded'with'major'gains'in'the'mid-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'24,150'mark.

At'14:30'ST,'the'barometer'index,'the'S&P'BSE'Sensex'climbed'644.09'points'or'0.84%'to'77,536.14.'The'Nifty'50'index'soared'194.65'points'or'0.81%'to'24,192.30.

In'the'broader'market,'the'BSE'150'MidCap'Index'rose'0.06%'and'the'BSE'250'SmallCap'Index'surged'0.51%.

The'market'breadth'was'strong.'On'the'BSE,'2,150'shares'rose'and'2,013'shares'fell.'A'total'of'177'shares'were'unchanged.

The'NSE's'India'VIX,'a'gauge'of'the'ma...