The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex today dropped by almost 69 points to 17,963 in the opening trade. However later the market gained its initial losses and the Sensex was trading at 18020, up by 22 points. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty was trading almost flat at 5412 points. Meanwhile, the US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.39 per cent lower in the previous session.