Mumbai, Sept. 22 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest cuts in the early afternoon trade as investor sentiment was dented by the Trump administration's new H-1B visa policy, which imposes a one-time $100,000 fee on new applicants. The measure is viewed as a setback for India's IT sector.

The Nifty traded above the 25,300 level. Media shares advanced after declining in the past two trading sessions.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 214.20 points or 0.26% to 82,412.03. The Nifty 50 index lost 38.75 points or 0.15% to 25,288.30.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.24% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.19%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,969 shares rose and ...