Sensex, Nifty end at 2016 closing high; banks up

The market on Wednesday listed both the benchmark indices at a 2016 closing high ahead of April Futures and Option expiry tomorrow.

The Sensex ended up 56.82 points or 0.2 percent at 26064.12, and the Nifty was up 17.25 points or 0.2 percent at 7979.90.

Among the top performing sectors were FMCG, banks and oil and gas stocks, which lend support to the market.

Adani Ports, Bharti, ONGC and GAIL were top gainers while ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, Hindalco and BHEL were losers in the Sensex.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the Joint Parliament Standing Committee has cleared the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code and is likely to be discussed in the current Budget Session of Parliament.

Addressing the second meeting of the Consultative Committee on NPAs, Jaitley said the government is taking various steps, including introduction of Bankruptcy Law in the Lok Sabha, to deal with the problem of mounting bad loans.

The Bankruptcy Law has been cleared by the Joint Parliament Standing Committee and the SARFAESI (Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest) Act and Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) Act have been amended to make the recovery process more efficient and expedient, he said in his opening remark.