Mumbai, May 22 -- The key equity indices traded with deep cuts in afternoon trade amid global risk aversion. A spike in U.S. Treasury yields, Moody's downgrade of the U.S. credit outlook, weak bond demand, and a technical correction following the recent rally triggered broad-based selling in Indian equities. Barring the Nifty Media index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE traded in red.

The Nifty traded below the 24,600 level. The market is volatile due to the weekly expiry of the Nifty F&O series today.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tanked 858.86 points or 1.05% to 80,737.65. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 260.75 points or 1.05% to 24,552.70.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.46% ...