Mumbai, Feb. 14 -- The domestic equity indices traded with steep losses in early trade. The Nifty traded below the 21,550 mark. Barring the Nifty Media index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in red.

At 09:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 695.85 points or 0.97% to 70,859.34. The Nifty 50 index slipped 193.75 points or 0.89% to 21,549.50.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.90% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.48%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,143 shares rose and 1,778 shares fell. A total of 89 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 376.32 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net...