Mumbai, Jan 28 (IANS): Taking a cue from global markets, the key Indian equity market indices on Monday opened higher, however, within minutes they were trading in red.

The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 36,025.54 on Friday last week, opened higher at 36,099.62. Minutes later, it was quoting at 35,950.40, down by 75.14 points, or 0.21 per cent.

At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader Nifty 50, which had closed at 10,780.55 on Friday, was quoting at 10,757.30, down by 23.25 points or 0.22 per cent.

Heavy selling of some of the stocks during the final hour of trade on Friday had dragged the Sensex and Nifty down.

The Sensex was down by 169.56 points or 0.47 per cent at the Friday's closing. In the day's trade, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index had touched a high of 36,474.48 and a low of 35,953.15. The Nifty, too was down by 69.25 points or 0.64 per cent.

On Monday, Asian indices were mostly showing a positive trend though Japan's Nikkei 225 was quoting in red, down by 0.44 per cent. Hang Seng was up by 0.36 per cent, South Korea's Kospi was also up by 0.18 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite index was trading in green, up by 0.35 per cent.

Last week, Nasdaq had closed in green, up by 1.29 per cent while FTSE 100 was down by 0.14 per cent at the closing on Friday.