Mumbai, Oct. 8 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with minor losses in early afternoon trade as profit booking set in. Investors will monitor the quarterly business updates, IPOs activity and upcoming quarterly earnings season.

The Nifty traded below the 25,050 mark. PSU Bank shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 246.96 points or 0.30% to 81,686.73. The Nifty 50 index fell 89.10 points or 0.36% to 25,017.65.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index dropped 0.50% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.37%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,662 shares rose and 2,298 shares fell. A tot...