The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex rose by nearly 173 points in the opening trade on Monday on the back of buying by funds and retail investors amid a firming trend on other Asian bourses.

The 30-share barometer, which lost 83.07 points in the previous session, recovered sharply by 172.84 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 18,935.64 as investors accumulated oil and gas, banking, auto and metal sector stocks.

Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 49.05 points, or 0.86 per cent, to 5,676.25.

Brokers said fresh buying by funds and investors, driven by a firming trend on other Asian markets, following weekend gains in the US markets mainly led to the recovery on the domestic bourses.

In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose by 1.83 per cent and Japan’s Nikkei by 1.22 per cent in morning trade. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.36 per cent higher yesterday.