In volatile movements, the BSE Sensex resumed lower and slipped further to hit the day's low of 27,710.03 as investors grappled with effects of tougher Chinese rules on lending and political instability concerns in Greece.
However, emergence of buying in afternoon trade helped Sensex wipe off initial losses to close higher at 27,831.10, logging a rise of 34.09 points, or 0.12 per cent. The Sensex had lost 765.81 points in the previous three sessions.
Fall in BHEL, GAIL, Hind Unilever, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Wipro, L&T, RIL, TCS, Coal India, HDFC Ltd, Hindalco, M&M and Maruti Suzuki shares, however, weighed.
Shares of Bharti Airtel, which gained over 2 per cent in early trade after telecom tribunal TDSAT set aside Rs 650 crore penalty imposed by the DoT, succumbed to profit-booking towards the close and ended 0.16 per cent lower.
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Second-line shares were also back in form on a fresh spell of buying support from retail investors.
Shares in jewellery makers surged on speculation that the government may announce changes to gold-import rules for trading houses. Gitanjali Gems gained 8.53 per cent, TBZ 4.46 per cent, PC Jeweller 2.31 per cent and Titan 3.99 per cent.
The BSE-Midcap and BSE-Smallcap indices closed up by 0.93 per cent and 1.06 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, Foreign Portfolio Investors sold shares worth net Rs 221.52 crore yesterday as per provisional data.