Mumbai, March 10 -- The headline equity indices erased all gains and traded with modest losses in mid-afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 22,500 level after hitting the day's high of 22,676.75 in the morning trade. Oil and gas shares declined after advancing in the past four consecutive trading sessions.

At 14:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 168.02 points or 0.23% to 74,164.56. The Nifty 50 index lost 77.70 points or 0.34%, to 22,474.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.39% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.97%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,242 shares rose and 2,778 shares fell. A total of 161 shares were unchanged.

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