Mumbai, Feb. 10 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with substantial losses in the early afternoon trade after US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would impose a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum imports starting Monday. This move is expected to be in addition to further metal duties, which are anticipated to be disclosed later in the week. The Nifty traded below the 23,400 level.

Media shares extended gains for the third straight day.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 629.02 points or 0.81% to 77,231.17. The Nifty 50 index lost 199.60 points or 0.85% to 23,360.35.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.01%, and the S&P BSE ...