Mumbai, April 15 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with major gains in mid-morning trade, tracking a rally in global markets amid optimism over the resumption of US-Iran peace talks. Nifty traded above the 24,150 mark. IT shares advanced after declining over the past two trading sessions.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 1,096.47 points or 1.43% to 77,944.04. The Nifty 50 index rose 349 points or 1.46% to 24,184.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index jumped 1.98% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 2.12%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 3,519 shares rose and 629 shares fell. A total of 156 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gaug...