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Extending their initial gains, Indian equity bourses were trading firm in afternoon deals with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 15,800 (Nifty) and 52,800 (Sensex) levels on the back of buying by funds and retail investors. Traders were encouraged with steadily declining fresh Covid cases and fast-rising vaccinations, which will facilitate the further easing of restrictions and rebound in economic activity. In another positive development, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged ministries to go above and beyond their capital expenditure (capex) commitments for this fiscal year, emphasizing that increased spending will be important in reviving the economy following the pandemic. Healthy buying was observed in blue-chip stocks like Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and Reliance Industries.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly higher despite new data showing factory activity slowed this month as virus outbreaks disrupted shipping at some Chinese ports. Back on street, the overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1928: 1176; while 137 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 52844.24, up by 294.58 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 52630.91 and 52875.92. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.27%, while Small cap index was up by 0.75%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.33%, Energy up by 1.25%, TECK up by 1.14%, Metal up by 0.87% and Industrials was up by 0.80%, while Utilities down by 0.51%, Realty down by 0.42%, Power down by 0.42% and FMCG was down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.96%, Infosys up by 1.63%, Reliance Industries up by 1.43%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.33% and TCS was up by 0.93%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.91%, ICICI Bank down by 0.37%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.34%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.24% and Bajaj Finserv was down by 0.16% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, RBI in its latest data has showed that credit growth to the industrial sector remained in the negative territory during 2020-21, mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns. It said personal loans continued to grow at robust pace and recorded 13.5 per cent growth (Y-o-Y) in March 2021; industrial loan growth, on the other hand, remained negative during all quarters of 2020-21.

The central bank said working capital loans in the form of cash credit, overdraft and demand loans, which accounted for a third of total credit, contracted during 2020-21, indicating the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The data further revealed that private sector banks recorded higher loan growth when compared to public sector lenders. Their share in total credit increased to 36.5 per cent in March 2021 from 35.4 per cent a year ago and 24.8 per cent five years ago.

As per the ‘Quarterly Basic Statistical Returns (BSR)-1: Outstanding Credit of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs), March 2021’, credit to household sector rose by 10.9 per cent (Y-o-Y) and its share in total credit increased to 52.6 per cent in March 2021 from 49.8 per cent a year ago. Growth in credit to the private corporate sector, however, declined for the sixth successive quarter and its share in total credit stood at 28.3 per cent.

RBI said the weighted average lending rate (WALR) on outstanding credit has moderated by 91 basis points during 2020-21, including a decline of 21 basis points in Q4. It also said bank branches in urban, semi-urban and rural areas recorded double-digit credit growth (Y-o-Y) in March 2021, whereas metropolitan branches, which accounted for 63 per cent of bank credit, logged 1.4 per cent growth.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 15825.25, up by 76.80 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 15774.25 and 15839.10. There were 34 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.80%, Infosys up by 1.57%, Coal India up by 1.49%, Divi's Lab up by 1.44% and Tech Mahindra was up by 1.42%. On the flip side, Shree Cement down by 1.19%, Power Grid down by 1.02%, ICICI Bank down by 0.37%, Cipla down by 0.35% and Hindustan Unilever was down by 0.30% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly higher; KOSPI rose 10.00 points or 0.3% to 3,296.68, Jakarta Composite soared 55.61 points or 0.93% to 6,004.66, Shanghai Composite gained 12.64 points or 0.35% to 3,585.82, Straits Times advanced 47.36 points or 1.53% to 3,136.85 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 157.27 points or 0.89% to 17,755.46.

On the other hand, Nikkei 225 slipped 21.08 points or 0.07% to 28,791.53 and Hang Seng was down by 118.42 points or 0.41% to 28,875.68.

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