Mumbai, Jan 20 (IANS): Key Indian equity indices opened lower on Wednesday and skid further on weak Asian cues.

Against the previous day's close at 24,479.84 points, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) opened at 24,325.77 points.

Soon after, it was trading at 24,084.02 with a loss of 395.82 points, or 1.56 percent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 50-share Nifty was trading at 7,318.30 points, down 116.80 points, or 1.57 percent.

On Tuesday, the Sensex had closed with a gain of 291.47 points or 1.21 percent, while the Nifty moved up 84.10 points or 1.14 percent.

Analysts said investors looked for bargains at lower levels, ignoring the lowest growth in China in 25 years in the last quarter.On Wednesday, the mood was subdued in the Asia-Pacific markets.

Australia's ASX, Japan's Nikkei 225, Korea's Kospi and China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng all opened lower and slid further, while Singapore's STI started in the green.

"The US markets closed flat after China's government said the nation's economic growth rate eased to 6.8 percent for the fourth quarter and 6.9 percent for 2015," Angel Broking said in an analysis ahead of the opening bell.

"European markets also bounced back from their lowest levels in 13 months on the back of stimulus hopes from China and the lower than expected fall in its GDP," the brokerage added.

As regards the global economy, the International Monetary Fund has said that amid overall worries, India was expected to grow the fastest this year and the next, at 7.5 percent per annum, to outpace Chinese expansion, pegged at 6.3 percent 6 percent, respectively.