The Sensex gained over 143 points in opening trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Wednesday. However, later it shed its initial gains and was trading at 18,411, down by 27 points a short while ago. In the Asia region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 0.91 per cent and Japan's Nikkei index by 0.78 per cent in early trade on Wednesday. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.03 per cent higher in Tuesday's trade.