Mumbai, Jan. 23 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest losses in early afternoon trade amid profit booking and FII selling weighed on sentiment with the Nifty trading below 25,250 level. Investors adopted a risk-off stance, while market participants remained focused on the ongoing Q3 earnings season and movements in crude oil prices.

Oil & gas shares declined after posting gains over the previous two trading sessions.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 298.17 points or 0.36% to 82,008.90. The Nifty 50 index fell 88.10 points or 0.35% to 25,201.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.61% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 1.17%.

The market ...