Mumbai, March 5 -- The key equity barometers trade near the flat line with tiny losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded near 22,200 level. PSU bank, auto and bank stocks advanced while media, IT and FMCG shares declined.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 18.29 points or 0.02% to 73,854. The Nifty 50 index lost 4.10 points or 0.02% to 22,401.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.17% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.53%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,291 shares rose and 2,488 shares fell. A total of 99 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services Business Activity Index registered 60.6 in February, down from 61.8 in January. Despit...