MUMBAI: Taking cues from global markets, the key Indian equity market indices opened in red on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve increased its key interest rate.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 26,602.84 points on Wednesday, opened lower at 26,497.71 points. Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 26,461.27 points, down by 141.57 points, or 0.53 pct.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 51-scrip Nifty, which had closed at 8,182.45 points, was trading at 8,122.90 points, down 60.15 points or 0.74 pct.

Indian equity markets plunged on Wednesday owing to risks of upcoming global economic events, coupled with negative global indices.

The Sensex was down 94.98 points or 0.36 pct at the Wednesday's closing. 

The index touched a high of 26,736.34 points and a low of 26,547.05 points during the intra-day trade. The Nifty, also dipped by 39.35 points or 0.48 pct.

On Thursday, Asian indices were trading in red after the US Federal Reserve raised its key rate by a quarter percentage point to a range of 0.5 pct to 0.75 pct, the first increase since last December.

Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading in red, down 0.15 pct, Hang Seng down by 1.66 pct while South Korea's Kospi was also down by 0.21 pct. China's Shanghai Composite index was quoting in red, down by 0.24 pct.

Nasdaq on Wednesday closed in red, down by 0.50 pct and FTSE 100 also fell by 0.28 pct at the closing.

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