Mumbai, July 18 -- The headline equity benchmarks traded with major losses in early afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 24,950 mark. Financial Services extended losses for the three trading sessions.

At 12:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 586.32 points or 0.72% to 81,669.06. The Nifty 50 index slipped 171.45 points or 0.67% to 24,942.65.

In the broader market The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.43% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 0.50%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,458 shares rose and 2,337 shares fell. A total of 198 shares were unchanged.

Derivatives:

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rallied 3.55% to 11.62. The Nifty 31 July ...