Mumbai, May 6 -- The key equity benchmarks rallied on Wednesday as investor sentiment strengthened on mounting optimism over a potential US-Iran peace agreement.

The market opened with strong gains, tracking upbeat global cues and a sharp decline in crude oil prices after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled meaningful progress toward a possible deal with Iran.

Cooling geopolitical tensions dragged Brent crude prices below the $105-per-barrel mark, while the rupee rebounded strongly to hover near the 94-per-dollar level.

The Nifty surged past the 24,300 mark, powered by robust buying in banking shares. Barring the Nifty FMCG index, all sectoral indices on the NSE ended firmly in the green.

The S&P BSE Sensex surged 940.73 points or 1....