The BSE benchmark Sensex declined by 59 points in early trade today, as funds and retail investors booked profits after recent gains, amid weakening trend on other Asian bourses.The 30-share index, which had gained nearly 454 points in the previous three sessions, declined by 59 points to 18,143 in the first few minutes of trade today.In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty shed 22 points to 5,510.In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell by 0.74 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei Index shed 0.26 per cent in morning trade. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.76 per cent lower yesterday.