Mumbai, Sept. 11 -- The key equity indices ended with moderate cuts on Friday, after a gap-down opening, as escalating Middle East tensions and surging crude oil prices weighed on investor sentiment. The Nifty closed below the 23,400 level. Realty, metal and auto stocks declined, while IT stocks bucked the broader market weakness.

As per provisional closing data, the S&P BSE Sensex tanked 120.83 points or 0.16% to 74,781.76. The Nifty 50 index lost 79.70 points or 0.34% to 23,398.10.

In the broader market, the BSE 150 MidCap Index declined 0.59% and the BSE 250 SmallCap Index shed 0.03%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 2,018 shares rose and 2,470 shares fell. A total of 241 shares were unchanged.

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