Mumbai, March 12 -- The domestic indices pared some losses but remained in negative territory with limited losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded above the 22,400 level after hitting day's low of 22,329.55 in early afternoon trade. Financial services, bank and auto shares advanced while IT, media and realty stocks declined.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 149.86 points or 0.20% to 73,952.46. The Nifty 50 index lost 62.30 points or 0.28% to 22,435.60.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.96% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.47%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,407 shares rose and 2,451 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unc...