Mumbai, July 18 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with significant losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,950 mark. Bank, private bank and FMCG shares declined, while media and metal shares advanced.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 576.58 points or 0.70% to 81,686.89. The Nifty 50 index slipped 160.45 points or 0.64% to 24,949.50

In the broader market The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.55% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.59%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,505 shares rose and 2,417 shares fell. A total of 175 shares were unchanged.

Gainers & Losers:

Wipro (up 2.23%), Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (up 1.17%), Tata Steel (up 1.12%), HCL Technologies (up 0.89%) a...