India, March 20 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in the afternoon trade, recovering from steep losses in the previous session, supported by easing crude oil prices and value buying. The Nifty 50 traded above the 23,250 mark, with all sectoral indices trading in the green. PSU bank, pharma, and metal shares advanced.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex surged 797.98 points or 1.07% to 74,995.96. The Nifty 50 index jumped 258.80 points or 1.12% to 23,258.95.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index added 1.33% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index gained 0.94%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,825 shares rose and 1,314 shares fell. A total of 162 shares were unchanged.

The rup...