Mumbai, July 21 -- The headline equity indices traded with modest losses in the early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,200 level. PSU bank shares declined after advancing in the past two consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 251.24 points or 0.33% to 77,457.28. The Nifty 50 index fell 65.20 points or 0.26% to 24,173.30.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index rose 0.22% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 0.13%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,991 shares rose and 1,956 shares fell. A total of 230 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, declined 1.88% to 12.74....