In this paper, a new gradient-based iterative algorithm is proposed to solve the coupled Lyapunov matrix equations associated with continuous-time Markovian jump linear systems. A necessary and sufficient condition is established for the proposed gradient-based iterative algorithm to be convergent. In addition, the optimal value of the tunable parameter achieving the fastest convergence rate of the proposed algorithm is given explicitly. Finally, some numerical simulations are given to validate the obtained theoretical results.