Mumbai, Dec 15 (IANS): 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 per cent.

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 per cent.

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 per cent 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 per cent.

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 per cent to 0.75 per cent, the first increase since last December.

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

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