Mumbai, Sep 18 - A key index of Indian equities markets, which opened lower and plunged further into the red Friday on profit booking and weak Asian cues, rebounded in the afternoon trade to extend its winning streak to the fourth straight day.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,650.05 points, rose 0.18 percent or 30.19 points to close at 16,741.30 points.

The index, which plunged to a low of 16,610.05 by noon, rebounded in the late afternoon trade on revival of buying in auto and realty stocks.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also ended the volatile trading marginally in the green at 4,976.05 points, up 0.21 percent.

Broader market indices also made gains, with the BSE midcap index ending 0.45 percent higher and the BSE smallcap index up 0.77 percent.

The market breadth was positive, with 1,443 stocks advancing, 1,334 declining and 81 remaining unchanged.

Auto major Maruti Suzuki led the late recovery with 5.23 percent rise in its stock value. Other top gainers include Reliance Infrastructure, up 4.47 percent; Jaiprakash Associates, up 3.82 percent; Bharti Airtel, 2.18 percent; and ACC Ltd, up 2.04 percent.

Among the top losers are ICICI Bank, down 3.