Mumbai, Aug 12 - A key index of the Indian equities markets opened in the red Wednesday, and was 145 points below its last closing figure about ten minutes into trade.

The sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 14,953.44 points, as against Tuesday's close at 15,074.59 points. It soon slipped to 14,929.13 points, 145.46 or 0.96 percent down from its previous close.

The S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) too was trading in the negative terrain and was at 4,426.65 points, a fall of 1 percent.

Broader market indices were also losing with the BSE midcap index down 0.41 percent, while the BSE smallcap index was 0.29 percent lower.