Mumbai, Oct. 7 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with modest losses in early afternoon trade after the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.50% from 5.25%. The rate hike, along with the RBI's policy stance and commentary on inflation, kept investors cautious. Market participants will track high-frequency economic indicators, global market trends, crude oil prices and currency movements for further cues on the interest-rate trajectory. The Nifty traded near the 22,650 mark, while the Sensex remained under pressure.

Realty shares dropped for the second consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 266.72 points or 0.37% t...