The Sensex shed 51 points in the opening trade on Wednesday. This follows increased selling by funds and retail investors in tandem with weak Asian markets. The 30-share barometer, which had lost 63 points in the previous session, lost 0.24 per cent at 20,448.17 level in a fall led by financial and realty sector stocks. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty declined by 28 points to 6,118.85 points. In other markets in Asia, Japan's Nikkei shed 0.10 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down by 0.34 per cent in the morning trade on Wednesday. In the US, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.18 per cent higher in Tuesday's trade.