The BSE benchmark Sensex which gained 513 points in the previous session, fell by 28 points to 18,212 points in the first few minutes of trade today. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index slid by 37 points to 5,434. In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading 0.73 per cent lower and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.86 per cent this morning. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.96 per cent lower in Friday trade.