An across-the-board buying helped frontline indices to settle with over a per cent gains on Wednesday, thus snapping their four-day losing streak. Further, investor sentiment also got a boost after the finance minister said the government would announce measures to tackle the financial fallout from the coronavirus outbreak amid a fall in new cases in China.
The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 429 points or 1 per cent to end the day at 41,323. Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC, HDFC Bank, HUL, Bajaj Finance and ITC contributed the most to the index's gains.
Shares of Vodafone Idea jumped as much as 48 per cent to Rs 4.49 on the BSE on the back of heavy volumes on report that the government is unlikely to invoke bank guarantees for now. The stock eventually settled at Rs 4.19 apiece on the BSE, up over 38 per cent.
On the NSE, the Nifty index settled at 12,126, up 133 points or 1 per cent.
Market breadth remained in the favour of advances as out of 2,707 companies traded on the BSE, 1,520 advanced and 1,009 declined while 178 remained unchanged.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained over 1 per cent to 15,632 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index added 204 points or 1.4 per cent to settle at 14,672-mark.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Pharma index gained the most - up over 2 per cent to 8,389 levels, followed by Nifty Media and Nifty FMCG.
GLOBAL MARKETS
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.
A pan-European equity index rose 0.4 per cent to test recent record highs and futures indicated a stronger open for Wall Street. Earlier, an MSCI index of Asian shares outside Japan rose 0.5 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei index gained almost 1 per cent. Chinese mainland shares closed in the red, however.
In commodities, oil prices rose with Brent gaining a seventh straight day, amid broad optimism as new coronavirus cases fell for a second day in China and concerns rose over supply after a US move to cut more Venezuelan crude from the market.
(With inputs from Reuters)
 "MARKET WRAP: Indices snap 4-day losing streak, Sensex ends 429 pts higher")
