The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by over 16 points in opening trade today. Later it recovered and was trading at 18038, up by over 50 points a short while ago. Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 0.29 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei fell by 1.60 per cent in early trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.15 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.