The BSE benchmark Sensex today was down by nearly 260 points during noon. The 30-share index which fell sharply by 295 points while opening in the morning, recovered some losses, but still was down by 260 points to trade at 18,283 .Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined by 59 points, or 1.05 per cent, to 5,535.In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 0.15 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei Index shed 0.52 percent in the morning trade today.The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.42 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.