After six consecutive sessions of decline, Indian equity markets stood at a threshold on Wednesday morning — caught between the steadying hand of domestic institutional buyers and a world unsettled by collapsing semiconductor valuations, two-decade-high bond yields, and crude oil climbing past $91. The GIFT Nifty offered only the faintest signal of relief, a 0.13 percent uptick that spoke less of confidence than of exhaustion. In markets as in life, the question at such moments is whether stillness signals recovery or merely the pause before the next descent.