Mumbai, Aug 23 (IANS): The key Indian equity indices pared initial losses to trade flat during the Friday afternoon trade, on hopes that the government may roll back the surcharge on foreign portfolio investors (FPIs).

At 12.47 p.m., the BSE Sensex traded at 36,479.75 points, higher by 6.82 or 0.02 per cent, over the previous close of 36,472.93 point.

Earlier in the day, it touched an intra-day low of 36,102.35 points and a high of 36,624.74.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange traded at 10,761.90 points, higher by 20.55 points, or 0.19 per cent

Around 9.40 a.m., the indices fell nearly 1 per cent, but recovered subsequently as reports suggested that the government is working on steps to arrest the slowdown which may include an exemption for FPIs from the tax surcharge on the super rich.

The government is also working on several measures to arrest the slowdown in the economy, including an exemption on the FPI tax surcharge, Bloomberg reported, quoting official sources.