Mumbai, Aug. 25 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with minor cuts in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,200 level. Metal, auto and IT shares declined, while media and PSU bank advanced on the NSE.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 22.17 points or 0.03% to 77,348.29. The Nifty 50 index lost 34.20 points or 0.15% to 24,183.10.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.01% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index shed 0.02%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,714 shares rose and 1,325 shares fell. A total of 219 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,181.66 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs)...