BSE benchmark Sensex today opened 164 points higher to trade at 19,635 points in opening trade. It had gained nearly 380 points in the previous two sessions. Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty gained 42 points, or 0.72 per cent to 5,894. Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.83 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index by 0.75 per cent in early trade today. In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Index closed 1.52 per cent higher on Wednesday.