Mumbai, Oct. 21 -- The key equity benchmarks erased early gains and traded with significant losses in early afternoon trade, weighed down by elevated crude oil prices and selling pressure in index heavyweights. The Nifty slipped below the 22,750 mark after hitting an intraday high of 23,120.

Consumer durables shares witnessed selling pressure for fourth consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 430.28 points or 0.59% to 73,425.76. The Nifty 50 index lost 165.95 points or 0.73% to 22,719.25.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The Nifty MidCap 150 Index declined 1.87% and the Nifty SmallCap 250 Index fell 2.62%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 445 shares r...