The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange surged 243 points, or 1.4 percent, to an over 25-month high of 17,936, on positive global cues, yesterday. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange spurted 78 points, or 1.5 percent, to 5,368. The rupee appreciated 45 paise, to a 19-month closing high of 44.44 against the dollar. Gold fell 80 rupees, to 16,700 rupees per ten grams in Delhi. And crude oil futures rose 55 cents, to 85.42 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. US stocks have moved higher after economic reports posted encouraging surprises that fuelled hopes the struggling recovery from recession is gaining traction. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 46.48 points or 0.43 per cent to 10,9744. The tech-rich Nasdaq composite climbed 26.95 points or 1.12 per cent to 2,430 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 9.33 points or 0.79 per cent at 1,187. Japanese share prices opened slightly higher today, with the benchmark Nikkei-225 index gaining 11.4 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 11,350.70 in the first minutes of trading.