Mumbai, March 21 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with major gains in the afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 23,350 mark. Media, auto, and pharma stocks declined while metal, consumer durables, and FMCG shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 637.58 points or 0.84% to 76,985.64. The Nifty 50 index rallied 192.35 points or 0.83% to 23,383.95.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.97% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index jumped 1.52%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,767 shares rose and 1,157 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Bajaj Finance (up 3.23%), Coal India (up 3.08%), NTPC (up 2.97%), Lar...