Mumbai, March 6 -- The key equity benchmarks ended sharply lower on Friday, after a day's breather, as the conflict in West Asia entered its seventh day, pushing crude oil prices higher. Continued foreign fund outflows further weighed on investor sentiment. The Nifty settled near the 24,450 mark, dragged down by losses in banking stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 1,097 points or 1.37% to 78,918.90. The Nifty 50 index tanked 315.45 points or 1.27% to 24,450.45.

ICICI Bank (down 3.13%), State Bank of India (down 2.54%) and HDFC Bank (down 2.34%) were major Nifty drags today.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index fell 1.07% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index declined 0.67%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,895 shares...