India, March 18 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in the morning trade mirroring Asian markets. However, the sentiments remained cautious amid concerns over the ongoing US-Iran conflict in the Middle East, a sharp rise in crude oil prices, which continue to weigh on overall risk appetite. Nifty traded above the 23,700 level. IT shares surged after declining for the six consecutive trading sessions.

At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 432.77 points or 0.57% to 76,522.62. The Nifty 50 index rose 141.20 points or 0.57% to 23,715.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped1.22% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index climbed 1.49%.

The market breadth was...