Benchmark equity indices recovered most of their early losses on Thursday, supported by gains in IT stocks and a sharp rebound in the rupee after a weak start triggered by global tensions.
The BSE Sensex was trading at 73,215.15, up 80.83 points or 0.11 per cent in late afternoon trade, after witnessing sharp volatility during the session.
The Nifty 50 stood at 22,670.30, down just 9.10 points or 0.04 per cent, recovering from steep intraday losses after touching a low of 22,182.55.
Markets had opened on a weak note, with both indices falling nearly 2 per cent following fresh remarks by Donald Trump, who warned of strong US action against Iran in the coming weeks.
Sentiment improved later as the Indian rupee strengthened nearly 2 per cent to 92.94 against the US dollar after central bank measures to curb speculation, providing support to equities.
IT stocks led the recovery, with the Nifty IT index rising about 2.4 per cent amid investor positioning ahead of quarterly earnings. Shares of Infosys, TCS, HCLTech and Tech Mahindra were among the major gainers.
Other stocks supporting the rebound included Maruti, Titan, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank, Trent and Axis Bank, while losses persisted in counters such as Asian Paints, NTPC, Reliance and UltraTech Cement.
Despite the recovery, broader market sentiment remained weak, with benchmark indices still down about 0.6 per cent for the week and heading towards a sixth consecutive weekly decline.
Analysts said volatility is likely to persist, with global developments, particularly the Iran conflict, currency movements and upcoming earnings expected to drive market direction.
