Mumbai, March 24 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with significant gains in afternoon trade driven by foreign capital inflows and bargain buying, which boosted investor sentiment. The Nifty traded above the 23,650 mark. PSU Bank shares extended gains for five consecutive trading sessions.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, soared 1,034.42 points or 1.34% to 77,941.01. The Nifty 50 index rallied 306.75 points or 1.31% to 23,657.15.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index jumped 1.50% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.38%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,697 shares rose and 1,344 shares fell. A total of 177 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX...