Mumbai: The benchmark BSE Sensex recovered by 79 points in early trade today on buying in oil, realty, metal and PSU stocks after yesterday's losses.    

The 30-share index rebounded by 78.72 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 31,780.97. The gauge had lost 189.98 points in the previous session in line with overall weakness across the globe fuelled by North Korea's nuclear test on Sunday.    

All the sectoral indices led by oil&gas and realty were trading in the green, adding up to 0.82 per cent. The NSE Nifty also moved up by 23.85 points, or 0.24 per cent, to quote at 9,936.70. Traders said small gains at other Asian markets, recovering some of the ground lost in the previous day following North Korea's nuclear test, influenced trading sentiments here.    

Major gainers in the Sensex kitty included Tata Steel, Asian Paint, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, ONGC, Dr Reddy's, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, Maruti, Tata Motors, Cipla and L&T, rising up to 1.25 per cent. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.23 per cent while Shanghai Composite index up 0.08 per cent in early trade today. Japan's Nikkei, however, was down 0.47 per cent.  

The US markets were closed yesterday for the Labor Day holiday. PTI