The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rose a modest 50 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 18,384 in opening trade, this morning, on bargain-hunting by investors. Later, the Sensex moved up very strongly, and had gained a solid 388 points, or 2.1 percent, to 18,724, in afternoon deals, a short while ago. But other Asian markets in Japan, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong were down by between 0.1 percent and 1.2 percent, today, after the People's Bank of China increased banks' reserve requirements by 50 basis points, in an attempt to ease inflationary pressures.