The Bombay Stock exchange benchmark Sensex gained over 108 points in afternoon trade and stood at 18,598 points a short while ago. In the opening trade, Sensex had gained over 247 points.In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up by 1.41 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index rose 1.56 per cent in early trade today.The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.59 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.