The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange stood a solid 286 points, or 1.5 percent in positive territory, at 18,838 in afternoon trade, a short while ago. Earlier in the morning, the Sensex had opened with a strong gain of 201 points, or 1.1 percent, at 18,753 on fresh buying by funds, triggered by a firm global trend.

Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan and Singapore had gained between 0.4 percent and 2.7 percent, today, after the US first-quarter GDP growth was revised down to 1.8 percent, from the earlier estimate of 2.4 percent. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 1 per cent higher in yesterday's trade