The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex gained over 119 points in early trade today on buying by funds and retail investors amid a firming trend on other Asian bourses. The 30-share barometer gained 119 points to 17,626 as investors purchased fundamentally strong stocks available at attractive levels following a steep fall yesterday. The wide-based National Stock Exchange Nifty index also moved up by 31 points to 5,289 points. Brokers said, fresh buying by funds and investors at prevailing levels and a firming trend on other Asian bourses mainly helped the trading sentiment to improve. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose by 0.85 percent and Japan's Nikkei by 0.89 per cent in early trade today. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.63 per cent higher yesterday.