The Sensex recovered by over 49 points, driven by a fresh round of buying in select blue—chips, even as Asia traded lower ahead of a key US employment report due for release later in the day.

The benchmark, which had shed 228.34 points in the previous two sessions, was in the green, up 49.47 points, or 0.17 per cent at 28,155.68, led by oil and gas, PSU, infrastructure, metal and healthcare indices, rising by up to 1.41 per cent.

The 50—share NSE Nifty was higher by 12.70 points, or 0.14 per cent, at 8,722.25.

From the Sensex pack, ONGC, Tata Steel, ITC, Lupin, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, GAIL, M&M and Reliance Industries were trading in the positive zone, jumping by up to 1.43 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.18 per cent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.35 per cent in early trade. Chinese markets are closed all this week for the National Day holiday.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.07 per cent lower yesterday.