Mumbai, Feb. 12 -- The key equity indices traded with modest losses in early afternoon trade as concerns over persistent foreign institutional investor (FII) selling and escalating trade war tensions continued to weigh on market sentiment. The Nifty traded below the 23,050 mark.

PSU Bank shares advanced after declining for four consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 269.69 points or 0.35% to 76,023.91. The Nifty 50 index lost 56.80 points or 0.27% to 23,009.20.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.76%, and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 0.88%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,295 shares rose and 2,552 shares fell. ...