Snapping a five day fall, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange gained 219 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 18,241 in opening trade, this morning, amid a firm trend overseas. After paring some of its gains, the Sensex still stood a good 179 points or 1 percent in the positive zone, at 18,201, in afternoon deals, a short while ago. The Sensex had lost over 1,130 points in the past five trading sessions, on macro-economic concerns. Other Asian bourses in Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore were up by between 0.8 percent and 1.8 percent, today, on encouraging corporate results and manufacturing data from the US, which boosted confidence in the global economic recovery. Over on Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had surged 1.3 per cent, overnight.