Mumbai, Oct. 21 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with significant losses in mid-afternoon trade, weighed down by elevated crude oil prices and persistent selling pressure. The broader market also witnessed sharp declines. The Nifty slipped below the 22,700 mark after hitting an intraday high of 23,120.

Realty shares extended their losing streak to a third consecutive trading session amid sustained selling pressure.

At 14:25 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 584.96 points or 0.78% to 73,267.27. The Nifty 50 index lost 218.85 points or 0.96% to 22,670.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The BSE150 MidCap Index declined 2.15% and the Nifty 250 SmallCap Index fell 2.55%.

The market breadth was weak. On ...