Mumbai, Oct. 3 -- The key equity indices continued to trade with minor cuts in the early afternoon trade, dragged by continued selling from foreign institutional investors (FIIs), even as global markets stayed positive and sentiment was supported by the Reserve Bank of India's dovish policy stance. The Nifty traded below the 24,850 mark.

Metal shares witnessed buying demand for fourth consecutive trading session.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 54.03 points or 0.07% to 80,929.28. The Nifty 50 index lost 28.40 points or 0.13% to 24,804.74.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 0.23% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.46%.

The market breadth was positive...