Rising in tandem with other Asian markets, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 243 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 18,440, in the first few minutes of trade, this morning. But afterwards, the Sensex pared much of its early gains, and stood a far more modest 54 points, or 0.3 percent in positive territory, at 18,251 in afternoon deals, a short while ago. The 30-share Sensex had lost more than 670 points in the past four trading sessions.Other Asian markets in Japan, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were up by between 0.3 percent and 1.8 percent, today, after US President Barack Obama announced that top American lawmakers had reached an agreement to reduce the budgetary deficit and avert a debt default.