Mumbai, Feb. 24 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with major losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 25,450 mark. Media shares declined after advancing for previous trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 1,001.35 points or 1.20% to 82,293.31. The Nifty 50 index fell 284.70 points or 1.11% to 25,428.30.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index slipped 0.96% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 1.11%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,148 shares rose and 2,794 shares fell. A total of 205 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 0.93% to 14.30. The Nifty 24 Februar...