The Sensex opened lower at 19,459.33 and declined further to 19,451.26 on profit-booking from operators. However, it recovered afterwards to 19,610.46 before quoting at 19,605.64 at 1030hrs, showing a gain of 101.46 points or 0.52 per cent from its last close.
The NSE 50-share Nifty also firmed up 30.05 points or 0.51 per cent to 5,960.25 at 1030hrs.
Major ganiers were TCS (2.02 per cent), SBI (1.91 per cent), HDFC (1.86 per cent), Infosys (1.62 per cent), M&M (1.51 per cent), Jindal Steel (1.41 per cent) and HDFC Bank (1.07 per cent).
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 876.93 crore on Tuesday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.
Asian shares were trading lower in their early trade weighed by a fall in US equities overnight and caution before the European Central Bank's interest rate decision later in the session.
Key benchmark indices in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea fell by 0.21 per cent to 0.55 per cent while indices in Taiwan and Singapore rose by 0.41 per cent to 0.9 per cent.