The Sensex at the Bombay Stock Exchange rose 61 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,824, on hopes that the government will soon announce more economic reforms, and amid positive European markets, today. The Nifty at the National Stock Exchange gained 16 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,719. Most other key Asian stock markets were closed. But Japan's Nikkei-225 index fell 0.8 percent; and Singapore's Straits Times index lost 0.1 percent.