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Mumbai, 26 Aug (PTI): Continuing its rising streak for the third straight day, the Sensex rose 144 points in early trade on expectations that the government would take steps to attract capital flows to fund the current account deficit. Besides, a firming trend in the Asian region also influenced the trading sentiment.

The 30-share barometer rose 143.77 points, or 0.78 percent, to 18,663.21 with stocks of capital goods, realty, power and banking sectors leading the rally. The index had gained 613.53 points in the previous two sessions. Similarly, the wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty moved up by 37.10 points, or 0.68 per cent, to 5,508.85.

Brokers said the sentiment buoyed on increased buying by funds as well as retail investors after the Finance Ministry said on 24 August that steps to attract capital flows to fund the current account deficit could be expected within a week. Further, a firming trend in the Asian region – as speculation eased over whether the Federal Reserve would begin an early tapering of its massive stimulus programme – too influenced the sentiment, they said.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei was up by 0.43 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.78 percent in early trade. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.31 percent higher on Friday.