Mumbai, Feb. 27 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with major losses in the afternoon trade as investors remained cautious amid FII selling and weak global cues. The Nifty dropped below the 25,300 level.

Realty, FMCG and private bank shares declined while IT and media shares advanced.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 592.64 points or 0.72% to 81,655.60. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 198.10 points or 0.78% to 25,295.20.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index shed 0.73% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 0.73%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,543 shares rose and 2,489 shares fell. A total of 189 shares were unchanged.

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