Rising for the sixth straight day, the Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange jumped 147 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at the key 18,000 level for the first time since 23 February, today, on hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank, and after Germany's top court allowed ratification of an EU bailout fund. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange rose 41 points, or 0.8 percent, to 5,431.Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore gained between 0.3 percent and 1.7 percent.