Mumbai, Dec 21 (IANS): Taking a cue from global markets, the key Indian equity market indices on Thursday opened higher.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 33,777.38 points on Wednesday, opened higher at 33,826.25 points. Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 33,831.90 points, up by 54.52 points, or 0.16 per cent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 51-scrip Nifty, which had closed at 10,444.20 points, was quoting at 10,460.10 points, up by 15.90 points or 0.15 per cent.

Breaking a four-day winning streak, key indices of the domestic equity markets closed on a lower note on Wednesday as weak global cues, coupled with heavy selling pressure in banking and auto stocks and huge outflow of foreign funds, hampered investors' risk-taking appetite.

According to market observers, investors traded with caution ahead of the release of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee meet minutes after market hours.

The Sensex was down by 59.36 points or 0.18 per cent at the Wednesday's closing.

In the day's trade, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index had touched a high of 33,956.31 points and a low of 33,754.94 points. The Nifty too was down by 19 points or 0.18 per cent.

On Thursday, Asian indices were mostly showing a mixed trend. Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading in red, South Korea's Kospi was down while Hang Seng was trading in green.

China's Shanghai Composite index was also quoting in green.

Nasdaq closed in red, down marginally by 2.89 points while FTSE 100 was also down by 18.87 points at the closing on Wednesday.