Mumbai, Feb. 20 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 22,900 level. Auto, FMCG and bank shares declined while metal and oil & gas stocks advanced.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 367.01 points or 0.48% to 75,572.17. The Nifty 50 index declined 81.15 points or 0.35% to 22,851.75.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.48% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.42%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,300 shares rose and 1,520 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,881.30 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune o...