Sensex gains 220 points in opening trade

The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange surged by 219.18 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 18,241.40 within the first few minutes of trade, with oil and gas, realty and banking stocks leading the pack.

The blue-chip barometer has lost over 1,130 points in the past five sessions and closed at its lowest level in five months yesterday at 18,022.22.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also moved up by 61.75 points, or nearly 1.1 per cent, to 5,478.95 points today.

Brokers said the investor sentiment was boosted by aggressive buying by funds on the back of overnight gains in the US market and a firming trend on other Asian bourses.

Shares of Bharti Airtel were trading higher at Rs 324.10 despite the company`s announcement of a 41 per cent dip in third quarter net profit to Rs 1,303.3 crore, compared to Rs 2,194.9 crore in the same quarter a year ago.

Meanwhile, Japan`s Nikkei index rose by 0.91 per cent and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng Index was up 1.38 per cent in early trade today.

In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.25 per cent up on Tuesday.