Mumbai, March 2 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with significant losses in the morning trade, pressured by a sharp rise in crude oil prices amid escalating Middle East tensions.

The Nifty traded below the 25,550 mark. Oil & Gas shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.

At 10:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 1,007.33 points or 1.24% to 80,279.86. The Nifty 50 index tanked 314.15 points or 1.25% to 24,864.50.

The broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 1.02% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index fell 1.47%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 735 shares rose and 3,193 shares fell. A total of 214 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectati...