Sensex climbs by 166 points in opening trade

Mumbai, Feb 25 (PTI) The BSE Sensex rose by over 166points in opening trade today on brisk buying of bluechipsthat were badly bruised in yesterday''s volatile session and afirming trend on other Asian bourses after the US took stepsto crack down on Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, whichlost over 805 points in the previous three sessions, bouncedback by 166.87 points to 17,799.28 points today, with banking,auto and realty stocks, leading the recovery.

Similarly, the broadbased National Stock Exchange Niftyindex also moved up by 62.65 points to 5,325.35 points.

Brokers said fresh buying by funds and retail investorsamid a firming trend in Asia mainly boosted the tradingsentiment.

Meanwhile, Japan''s Nikkei index was up by 0.22 per centand Hong Kong''s Hang Seng Index by 0.51 per cent in earlytrade today.