The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rallied 301 points, or 1.8 per cent, to again cross the 17,000 mark, at 17,086 in opening trade, this morning, on fresh buying by investors, driven by rising Asian markets. Later, after paring its gains only slightly, the Sensex stood a good 272 points or 1.6 percent in positive territory, at 17,057, in afternoon trade, a short while ago. Other regional stock markets in Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Indonesia were up by between 1.5 percent and 3.9 percent. Markets rose after European leaders indicated progress on a plan to resolve the euro zone's debt crisis, and preliminary data showed that Chinese manufacturing is improving.