The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange gained a hefty 296 points, or 1.6 percent, to stand at 19,123 in afternoon trade, a short while ago. Earlier in the morning, the Sensex had opened with a gain of 196 points, or 1 percent, to trade above the 19,000 level, at 19,023, on fresh buying by funds and retail investors, after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced that more economic reforms are on the anvil. Firm global markets also helped lift the index. The Sensex had lost over 600 points in the previous three trading sessions.Stock markets in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore had climbed between 0.4 percent and 3 percent, today, after US economic data surpassed expectations, and on hopes that the US central bank will signal plans to keep record-low interest rates. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average had ended 1.2 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.