Mumbai, May 13 -- The headline equity indices traded with significant losses in the afternoon trade, dragged down by profit booking and weakness in index heavyweights, despite easing tensions between the U.S. and China. PSU bank, pharma and media advanced while IT, FMCG and realty declined. The Nifty slipped below the 24,650 mark.

At 13:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 1,260.30 points or 1.54% to 81,159.55. The Nifty 50 index tanked 333.75 points or 1.34% to 24,593.80.

The broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.26% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.76%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,427 shares rose and 1,414 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX,...