The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange gained 115 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 18,358, today. The Sensex rose on hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank as inflation fell to an over 3-year low in March, and as global crude oil prices eased further. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange climbed 40 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,568.But stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore declined between 0.2 percent and 1.6 percent.