Mumbai, Aug. 7 -- The key equity benchmarks continued to trade with moderate cuts in the early afternoon trade as investor remained cautious following the US decision to impose an additional 25% tariff on imports. The Nifty traded below the 24,450 mark.

Oil & Gas shares witnessed selling pressure for third consecutive trading session.

At 12:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 419.33 points or 0.52% to 80,124.40. The Nifty 50 index declined 142 points or 0.58% to 24,432.80.

The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.73% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.81%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,233 shares rose and 2,618 shares fell. A total of 158 shares ...