Mumbai, Aug. 7 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,650 level. Private bank, PSU bank and media shares declined, while IT, auto and realty advanced on the NSE.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 250.76 points or 0.32% to 78,704.00. The Nifty 50 index fell 29 points or 0.12% to 24,607.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 0.16% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index lost 0.03%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1,734 shares rose and 1,405 shares fell. A total of 194 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 17.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors...