Mumbai, Feb. 19 -- The key equity indices traded with sharply lower in early afternoon deals, as profit booking intensified amid rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty over global growth prospects. Traders adopted a risk-off stance, leading to broad-based selling across sectors. Investors are also closely monitoring developments at the AI Summit 2026 in Delhi.

Auto shares tumbled after advancing in the past two trading sessions.

At 12:25 PM ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex fell 666.46 points or 0.80% to 83,050.26. The Nifty 50 index declined 200.20 points or 0.76% to 25,621.35.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.68% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index dropped 0.46%.

The market breadth was positive. On t...