Mumbai, April 6 -- Headline equity benchmarks traded with modest losses in the morning trade, mirroring global uncertainty amid rising geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran. Investor sentiment remained cautious, further weighed down by volatility linked to the weekly Nifty F&O expiry. The Nifty slipped below the 22,650 mark. Oil & gas shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.

At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 415.06 points or 0.55% to 72,918.52. The Nifty 50 index slipped 108.55 points or 0.48% to 22,628.15.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index shed 0.01% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 0.30%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,139 shares rose and 1,7...