Mumbai, May 8 -- The key benchmark indices witnessed profit booking in afternoon trade, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that persistent tariff hikes could slow growth and drive long-term inflation. Investor sentiment was also weighed down by rising Indo-Pak tensions. The Nifty slipped below the 24,400 level. Market volatility was heightened due to the weekly expiry of the Nifty F&O series today.

Metal, pharma and realty shares witnessed selling pressure while media, private bank and IT stocks advanced.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, shed 52.86 points or 0.07% to 80,693.92. The Nifty 50 index lost 52.30 points or 0.21% to 24,362.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.40% and the S&P BSE ...