Mumbai, March 26: The Sensex opened in the green and zoomed over 1,000 points in the first hour of trade on Thursday. The rally was lifted by gains in banks and IT stocks. The Sensex was closed at 29,946, up 1,400 points. Nifty on the other hand settled at 8,641, up 323 points. Today is the second day of the 21-days lockdown and the government has urged people to stay indoors to avoid the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

Sitharaman in a press conference on Thursday announced a relief package for the poor and the needy. From free food, insurance cover for doctors and other frontline workers amid the lockdown. Nirmala Sitharaman Makes Important Announcements on Income Tax Return Filing Deadlines, GST And More Amid Coronavirus Outbreak: Check Full List of Announcements.

Investors were encouraged by reports that the US Senate has passed a $2 trillion coronavirus relief package. The Senate and House of Representatives still need to pass the legislation before sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature. Further positivity was infused in the market after another report mentioned that the Indian government was likely to agree on an economic stimulus package of more than Rs 1.5 trillion to fight the downturn caused by the coronavirus outbreak.  .US Senate, White House Reach Deal on $2 Trillion Coronavirus Rescue Package.

The Indian rupee opened flat at 75.87 per dollar on Thursday against Tuesday's close of 75.88. IndusInd Bank stock snapped its losing streak and was up 30 percent at Rs 391 today. All the stocks were trading in the green, except NTPC at 10:30 am on Thursday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 26, 2020 04:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).