Sensex pares declines after trading halt:

MUMBAI: The stock markets recovered from an almost 10 per cent slump that had shut down exchanges for an hour on Wednesday after the capital market regulator said restrictions on overseas investment won't lead to a complete ban.

The Securities & Exchange Board of India said investors who buy shares anonymously, using derivatives known as participatory notes, would have 18 months to switch to investing directly in the market.

There is no "intention to ban issue of such instruments," the Government said in a statement today. The Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index of 30 companies, or Sensex, fell as low as 17,307.90, closing 1.8 per cent down at 18,715.82 in Mumbai. The Ni fty closed at 5559.30, down by 108.75 points