The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange, which gained more than 200 points in opening trade today, rose further in late morning deals and was trading 294 points in the positive territory at 18,142, when reports last came in.After gaining almost 100 points in last two trading sessions, the 30-share index shot up by 209 points to regain the 18,000 level in the first few minutes of trade today. The rise was attributed to sustained buying by funds and retailers on better than expected quarterly earnings by corporates.In a similar fashion, the wide-based Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was trading 94 points up at 5,510.In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose by 0.09 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei Index by 1 per cent in early trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 0.03 per cent yesterday.