Mumbai, Feb. 7 -- The domestic equity indices traded with minor losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near the 21,900 level. IT shares fell after advancing in the past trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 128.02 points or 0.18% to 72,058.07. The Nifty 50 index lost 25.55 points or 0.12% to 21,903.85.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.26% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.43%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,166 shares rose and 1,617 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.19% to 15.82. ...