Mumbai, Dec. 26 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 26,050 mark. Auto shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 426.32 points or 0.50% to 84,979.27. The Nifty 50 index lost 116.10 points or 0.44% to 26,026.65.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.11% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.22%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,721 shares rose and 2,403 shares fell. A total of 184 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 0.49% to 27,750. The index jumped 1.54% in the three consecutive tradin...