Mumbai, Aug. 26 -- The equity benchmarks continued to trade sideways in early afternoon trade despite a decline in crude oil prices. Market sentiment remained cautious as investors monitored movements in US bond yields, developments in the US-Iran situation and other global cues. The Nifty traded below the 24,300 level.

IT shares declined after advancing in the two consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 38.63 points or 0.05% to 77,694.72. The Nifty 50 index fell 56.10 points or 0.23% to 24,278.65.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.29% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 0.69%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,392 s...