The BSE Sensitive index opened at 3572.96 and, dropped to a record low of 3483.81. However, it recovered towards the close to 3600.35, before finishing at 3597.98 points as compared to the previous level of 3573.21. The BSE-100 index also edged up by 3.90 points to 1598.38 points.

Brokers said during the early trades, the crash was due to selling pressure by the foreign funds in the light of weak GDRs which dipped by nearly 4 per cent on reports that the World Bank has deferred indefinitely consideration of two proposed loans totalling over $200 million to India.

The market, however, witnessed a sharp rally leading to a recovery as financial institutions led by UTI came to its rescue, buying aggressively in key scrips like Tisco, Reliance, Telco, Larsen, SBI and others. The totalvolume of business was marginally down at Rs 1626.39 crore from yesterday's turnover of Rs 1695.09 crore.

On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), equities staged a smart recovery following late buying support by financial institutions as well as investors. The NSE-50, weak at 1009.95 at the initial stages, later recovered smartly and rallied further to close at 1033.90 from yesterday's close of 1019.60. The Mid-cap index, however, eased by 2.00 points to 1524.30.

The total volume of business was marginally down at Rs 2178.23 crore.