Mumbai, Aug 2 (IANS): The key Indian equity market indices on Thursday opened flat following a muted trend in Asian markets.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 37,521.62 points on Wednesday, opened higher at 37,529.69 points.

Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 37,401.86 points,down by 119.76 points, or 0.32 per cent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 51-scrip Nifty, which had closed at 11,346.20 points on Wednesday, was quoting at 11,313.65 points, down by 32.55 points or 0.29 per cent.

Ending their week-long rally to fresh record levels, the domestic equity indices closed in the negative territory on Wednesday.

Investor sentiments were dampened by a decline in a key manufacturing data and the hike in lending rates by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

The RBI on Wednesday again hiked its key lending rate by 25 basis points to bring the repo to 6.50 per cent citing upside risks to inflation.

The Sensex was down by 84.96 points or 0.23 per cent at the Wednesday's closing. In the day's trade, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index had touched a high of 37,711.87 points and a low of 37,432.91 points. The Nifty, was down by 10.30 points or 0.09 per cent.

On Thursday, Asian indices were showing a negative trend. Japan's Nikkei 225 was quoting in red, down by 0.62 per cent while Hang Seng was down by 2.16 per cent. South Korea's Kospi was also down by 1.28 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite index was trading in red, down by 2.38 per cent.

Overnight, Nasdaq closed in green, up by 0.46 per cent while FTSE 100 was down by 1.25 per cent at the closing on Wednesday.