Mumbai, Aug. 4 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with minor losses in early afternoon trade as investors remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) monetary policy decision. The divergence between the Sensex and the Nifty reflected differences in their constituent weightings and the impact of the new Closing Auction Session (CAS) mechanism. FMCG stocks witnessed profit booking after advancing in the previous session. The Nifty slipped below the 24,550 mark.

At 12:28 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 156.70 points or 0.20% to 78,480.26. The Nifty 50 index fell 254.10 points or 1.03% to 24,520.20.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index added 0.05% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index rose...