Mumbai, Sept. 26 -- The domestic equity benchmarks traded with moderate cuts in the early afternoon trade after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on branded drug imports starting from 1 Oct 2025, pressuring pharma stocks despite generics being exempt. The Nifty traded below the 24,800 level. Metal shares declined after advancing in the past trading session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slipped 414.06 points or 0.51% to 80,745.62. The Nifty 50 index lost 134.10 points or 0.54% to 24,753.70.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.16% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.54%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,037 shares rose and 2,9...