The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange fell 44 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 16,892 in the first few minutes of trade, this morning, on continued selling by investors, on fears of an impending interest rate hike by the Reserve Bank of India. But the Sensex later recovered lost ground, to stand a slim 12 points in positive territory, at 16,948 in afternoon deals, a short while ago. Other Asian markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Taiwan were modestly lower, amid investor caution ahead of a key meeting on Europe's debt crisis, this weekend.