Mumbai, Feb. 18 -- The key equity benchmarks traded with modest losses in mid-morning trade amid profit booking in IT heavyweights and cautious global cues. The Nifty traded tad below the 25,700 level. IT shares declined after advancing in the previous two trading sessions.

At 11:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 153.71 points or 0.18% to 83,297.25. The Nifty 50 index fell 31.20 points or 0.13% to 25,692.45.

The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 0.06% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index added 0.17%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,063 shares rose and 1,787 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index declined 2.28% t...