Mumbai, Sep 21 (IANS): Taking a cue from global markets, the key Indian equity market indices on Thursday opened higher after the US Federal Reserve held policy rates.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 32,400.51 points on Wednesday, opened higher at 32,406.42 points.

Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 32,429.72 points, up by 29.21 points, or 0.09 per cent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 51-scrip Nifty, which had closed at 10,141.15 points, was quoting at 10,146.55 points, up by 5.40 points or 0.05 per cent.

The US Federal Reserve said it would initiate the balance sheet normalisation programme as per the schedule in October as announced in June 2017.

Key Indian equity indices closed on a flat note with fractional losses on Wednesday as caution ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meet outcome, coupled with heavy outflow of foreign funds, kept investors' sentiments subdued.

Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in automobile, consumer durables and banking stocks.

The Sensex was down by 1.86 points or 0.01 per cent at the Wednesday's closing. In the day's trade, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index had touched a high of 32,499.88 points and a low of 32,383.82 points. The Nifty too was down by 6.40 points or 0.06 per cent.

On Thursday, Asian indices were mostly showing a positive trend. Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading in green, up by 0.51 per cent. Hang Seng was up by 0.12 per cent while South Korea's Kospi was down by 0.08 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite index was quoting in green, up by 0.16 per cent.

Nasdaq closed in red, down by 0.08 per cent while FTSE 100 was also down 0.05 per cent at the closing on Wednesday.