The BSE benchmark Sensex surged by 116 points in early trade today, on sustained buying by funds and retail investors, supported by encouraging quarterly earnings by corporates. The 30-share BSE index, which had gained over 192 points in the previous session, rose by another 116 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 16,759.82, with all sectoral indices gaining up to 1.23 per cent.The wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty Index moved up by 32 points, or 0.65 per cent to 5,051 points.In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.96 per cent and Japan's Nikkei Index by 1.33 per cent in morning trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.36 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.