Equity markets recouped losses in the afternoon session on Friday, after Iran said it has no plans to counter-retaliate against Israel, at least for now.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which crashed 650 points intraday, bounced back to trade at 72,980, up 450 points.

The Nifty50, which plunged near 21,800 levels in the morning trade, was hovering above 22,100.

M&M, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, HUL, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, and Wipro were supporting the recovery.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and Smallcap indices fell 1 per cent each.

The sell-off was broad-based with the Nifty PSU bank (down 1.7 per cent), Media (down 1.4 per cent), and It (down 1.2 per cent) leading the losses.

Stock Market View: Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services

Reports of the feared escalation of the Iran-Israel tensions have spooked the markets. Distinct weakness in Asian markets and sharp cuts in US futures reflect heightened nervousness in equity markets.

There are headwinds from the bond markets, too. The sharp spike in US bond yields triggered big FII selling which touched Rs 4260 crores yesterday. More FII selling can be expected in the near-term putting pressure on largecaps.

Investors may wait for clarity to emerge on the geopolitical front. Uncertainty is very high.

Global Cues

Asian shares and bond yields plummeted, while the dollar, yen, oil, and gold surged, driven by reports of a significant escalation in hostilities in the Middle East.MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares plunged by over 2%, and U.S. stock futures indicated a decline of 1.3%, reacting to media reports suggesting Israeli missiles had targeted a site in Iran.

US stocks closed near the unchanged mark on Thursday, as investors sifted through the latest corporate earnings, while economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials suggested the central bank was unlikely to cut interest rates in the near future.