Mumbai, July 28 -- The key equity benchmark traded with modest losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,800 level. Private bank shares declined for the third consecutive session.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 220.35 points or 0.27% to 81,242.74. The Nifty 50 index lost 50.45 points or 0.20% to 24,787.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.13% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.66%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,486 shares rose and 2,419 shares fell. A total of 208 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

India's forex reserves dipped by $1.18 billion to $695.49 billion for the week ending July 18, data by the Reserve Bank of India showed on Friday. ...