Mumbai, March 18 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with substantial gains in mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered above the 22,700 level. Media shares jumped after declining for five consecutive trading sessions.

At 11:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 802.29 points or 1.08% to 74,981.98. The Nifty 50 index rallied 236.35 points or 1.05% to 22,745.10.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.38% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index jumped 2.10%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,697 shares rose and 1,040 shares fell. A total of 172 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Media index rose 1.80% to 1,454.15. The index declined 2.36% in t...