The BSE benchmark Sensex rose by 76 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 17,400 points during noon trade today.In a similar fashion, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty was up by 21 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5,269 points.In the Asian region, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 1.06 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei index went up 0.50 per cent in morning trade today. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.50 per cent higher in yesterday's trade.