The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by nearly 153 points in opening trade on Thursday. The 30-share barometer, which gained almost 247 points in the previous two sessions, declined by 152 points, or 0.82 per cent, to 18,317 in the first few minutes of trade on Thursday. In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index slid by 45 points, or 0.81 per cent, to 5,486.00 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 0.60 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei fell by 1.29 per cent in early trade on Thursday. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.01 per cent lower in on Wednesday's trade.