Mumbai, March 4 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with steep losses in the mid-afternoon trade as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and a sharp rise in crude oil prices rattled investor sentiment. Heavy selling by foreign institutional investors and other global headwinds also weighed on market sentiment.

The Nifty traded below the 24,600 level. Realty shares extended their losses for the third consecutive trading session.

At 14:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 1,038 points or 1.26% to 79,226.84. The Nifty 50 index tanked 306.55 points or 1.23% to 24,559.15.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 2.25% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 2.30%.

The mar...