The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex opened higher by 44 points in the opening trade. The sensex was trading at 17416, down by over 47 points when reports last came in. Similarly National Stock Exchange index Nifty lost over 20 points to quote at 5212. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index opened 0.67 per cent higher, while Japanese Nikkei index lost 0.58 per cent in early trade.