Mumbai, March 9 -- The key equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Monday, extending losses for a second straight session as surging crude oil prices, continued foreign institutional investor (FII) outflows and rupee weakness weighed on sentiment. Brent crude moved past the $100 per barrel mark amid escalating tensions in the Middle East, heightening concerns about inflation and rising input costs for businesses. Persistent FII selling and weakness in the domestic currency further pressured the market, while global volatility and risk-off sentiment led to broad-based declines. The Nifty settled below the 24,050 level, dragged down by losses in auto, PSU bank and consumer durables stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex tanked 1,352.72 points or 1.71...