Mumbai

The benchmark Sensex closed over 1 per cent higher on Wednesday owing to a decline in the rate of new coronavirus cases. Moreover, speculation that the government may soon announce steps to rescue the ailing telecom sector also gave boost to the investor sentiments.

The upbeat market mood came after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday that the government will soon announce measures to deal with the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. These measures will be announced in consultation with the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), she had said.

"A decline in the number of new coronavirus cases in China and mounting expectations for more policy stimulus boosted global stock markets on Wednesday, helping ease some of the alarm caused by an Apple revenue warning," said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.

The Sensex closed at 41,323, higher by 428.62 points, while the broader Nifty settled at 12,125.90, up by 133.40 points. The overall market also participated with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 up 1.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively.

All the sectors ended in green with pharma being the biggest gainer, followed by media, FMCG, metals and realty.

Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services said: "On the global front, there is a decrease in new virus cases and close to 80 per cent of the Chinese enterprises are back to work, indicating a possible economic recovery."

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