Mumbai, Aug. 25 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in mid-morning trade, as investor sentiment remained cautious amid escalating West Asia tensions, elevated crude oil prices and the upcoming Nifty 50 monthly derivatives expiry. Weak global market cues and concerns over a weak monsoon further weighed on sentiment. The Nifty traded below the 24,200 level, while IT shares declined after advancing in the past trading session.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 124.30 points or 0.16% to 77,244.81. The Nifty 50 index lost 66.90 points or 0.28% to 24,152.15.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.07% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index shed 0.21%.

The market breadth was negative. On ...