Extending Wednesday's gain, the Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark index Sensex on Thursday rose by over 31 points on cautious buying by funds ahead of the release of industrial production data.

The 30-share BSE Sensex gathered 31.63 points at 16,881.23 points in opening trade. The Sensex had shot up by 409.04 points yesterday led by IT stocks on firm overseas cues. The wide-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty also gained 6.90 points to trade higher at 5,010.85.