Mumbai, May 20 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with modest losses in early afternoon trade, as investors booked profits after recent gains, despite supportive global cues. Market participants turned cautious ahead of key global trade developments and the ongoing Q4 earnings season, which are expected to steer sentiment in the coming days.

Auto stocks declined after rising for the past four consecutive trading sessions. The Nifty traded below the 24,900 level.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 312.16 points or 0.38% to 81,757.01. The Nifty 50 index fell 82.75 points or 0.33% to 24,865.10.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.62% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.02%.

The mar...