Mumbai: The benchmark Sensex staged a strong come back in early trade today gaining over 158 points on widespread buying by participants in banking, auto, pharma and oil and gas stocks.

Asian stocks notched moderate gains, tracking sizable increases seen on Wall Street overnight also boosted the sentiments. The 30-share index was trading higher by 158.35 points, or 0.46 per cent at 33,970.61.

All the sectoral indices led by metal, consumer durables, power, bank and infrastructure were trading in the green with gains up to 0.79 per cent. The 30-share Sensex had lost 244.57 points in the previous two sessions. Also, the NSE Nifty went up by 43.30 points or 0.41 per cent to 10.485.50. Major gainers were ICICI Bank, Reliance industries, SBI, Adani Ports, TCS, Tata Steel and Power Grid, rising up to 1.84 per cent.

Brokers said buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and foreign funds amid a firm trend at other Asian bourses following yet another record close on Wall Street improved the market sentiment.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.23 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index by 0.82 per cent in early trade. Japan's Nikkei remained closed today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.42 per cent higher yesterday.

PTI