Sensex rose 68 points in early trade today, extending gains for the third straight session on sustained buying by funds in select bluechips, amid a firm trend in the Asian region. The 30-share BSE index, which had gained 71 points in the previous two sessions, rose further by 68 points to 19,872 points on the back of gains in IT, metal, auto and FMCG sector stocks. Similarly, the National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 18.85 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 5,869.05 points. Among other Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 0.14 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.70 per cent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.23 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.