Mumbai, Feb. 26 -- The key equity benchmarks reversed all gains and traded with minor losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 25,450 mark. Media shares declined after advancing for previous trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 181.44 points or 0.22% to 82,094.63. The Nifty 50 index fell 54.05 points or 0.21% to 25,428.45.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.01% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 0.18%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,949 shares rose and 1,972 shares fell. A total of 202 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the n...