India, Sept. 11 -- The key stock market benchmarks, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, crashed early on Friday amid a weak global trend, compounded by escalations between the US and Iran in West Asia. But it later recovered much of the losses.

While the Sensex closed 120 points down at 74,781.76, the Nifty 50 plunged about 79.70 points to close at 23,398. 10.

According to a report by Mint, investors lost about Rs.6 lakh crore within the first five minutes of trade as the overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms dropped to nearly Rs.478 lakh crore from nearly Rs.484 lakh crore in the previous session.

This came as US stocks fell overnight amid a rise in key inflation data, heightening market concerns. Moreover, rising tensions b...