The Bombay Stocks Exchange benchmark Sensex lost over 200 points in noon trade today. It was trading at 18,228 points a short while ago. Brokers said continued offloading of stocks by funds and retail investors and fears of further monetary tightening to control inflation dampened the trading sentiment. In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was down 1.08 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei lost 1.24 per cent in early trade this morning. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.59 per cent lower in Wednesday's trade.