Mumbai, Aug 9 (IANS) A benchmark index for Indian equities markets Tuesday pared early losses and at noon was almost poised to break into the green.

The 30-share sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange, which fell over 550 points to 16,432 points in morning trade, started climbing later on as traders saw value buys in stocks which had been battered in a global sell off after credit rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded the US sovereign debt rating.

Around 12.30 p.m., the Sensex was ruling at 16,963.48 points, down 0.16 percent.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange also followed a similar pattern and was trading at 5,116.3 points, down a marginal 0.04 percent.

Broader markets too had recouped most of the morning losses.

Auto and FMCG stocks were among the leading gainers on the BSE, but IT and telecom stocks continued to bleed.

At the BSE, the market breadth also improved from the totally bearish scene. The number of stocks advancing was 826 stocks, compared to 1,791 on the decline and 107 remaining unchanged.

Other major Asian markets, too, managed to stem the loss-making spree and pared some of the losses Tuesday.

The benchmark Japanese Nikkei closed 1.68 percent down at 8,944.48 points, while the Chinese Shanghai Composite index too made up for intra-day losses and was ruling flat at 2,528.97 points.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng too recovered some of its losses and was ruling 2.98 percent lower at 19,880.02 points.