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...