Mumbai, April 2 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with major cuts in the afternoon trade, tracking global risk aversion after Donald Trump's hawkish stance on Iran. Brent crude surged toward $105, raising inflation concerns. Domestic markets remained cautious ahead of the weekly expiry of BSE Sensex contracts. Being the final session of a truncated week, volatility is expected to stay elevated with global cues guiding trade. The Nifty slipped below the 22,250 mark.

At 13:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 760.75 points or 1.04% to 72,373.57. The Nifty 50 index slipped 224.65 points or 0.99% to 22,445.25.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 1.35% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index slipped 0.91%...