Mumbai, Aug 19 - A key index of the Indian equities markets was languishing in the red Wednesday afternoon, 252 points lower than its last closing figure.

At 2.12 p.m., the 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE was trading at 14,782.83 points, down 252.43 points or 1.68 percent. It had opened at 15,079.04 points.

The Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), too, was in the red at 4,391.75 points, down 1.51 percent.

Broader market indices were also in the negative terrain, with the BSE midcap index ruling 1.02 percent lower and the BSE smallcap index 0.35 percent down.