Mumbai, March 26 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with moderate losses in early afternoon trade as the markets experienced volatility. The Nifty traded below the 23,650 mark after hitting the day's high of 23,736.50 in early trade. Pharma shares extended losses for two consecutive trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 328.07 points or 0.43% to 77,689.26. The Nifty 50 index fell 64.30 points or 0.27% to 23,604.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.03% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.63%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,308 shares rose and 2,484 shares fell. A total of 150 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the mar...