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Indian equity benchmarks were trading in green but cut some of their gains in late morning session, on the back of negative cues from other Asian markets. Traders got cautious, as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic's resurgence in recent months has dampened investor sentiment in emerging East Asia even as accommodative policy stances have kept financial conditions stable, according to the latest issue of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Asia Bond Monitor. China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam posted declines in yields on short-term (2-year) and long-term (10-year) government bonds from June 15 to August 27.

Traders were seen taking a note of reports that the finance ministry is scheduled to meet representatives of global ratings agency Moody's next week and pitch for a sovereign rating upgrade as the economy is showing faster-than-expected recovery from the pandemic-induced contraction.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly lower, after Singapore's industrial production increased at a softer pace in August. The data from the Economic Development Board showed that industrial output grew 11.2 percent year-on-year in August, after a 16.4 percent rise in July. Production was forecast to increase 8.8 percent. Excluding biomedical manufacturing, industrial production gained 13.6 percent yearly in August, following a 6.7 percent rise in the preceding month.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 60129.33, up by 243.97 points or 0.41% after trading in a range of 60030.80 and 60333.00. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.27%, while Small cap index was up by 0.15%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.43%, Realty up by 2.03%, TECK up by 1.68%, IT up by 1.40% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.73%, while Metal down by 1.22%, Healthcare down by 0.84%, Consumer Durables down by 0.67%, Utilities down by 0.54% and Power down by 0.51% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 4.44%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.50%, HCL Tech. up by 2.62%, Infosys up by 1.78% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.91%, SBI down by 1.46%, Indusind Bank down by 1.33%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.18% and Axis Bank down by 1.09% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI's) Deposits with Scheduled Commercial Banks - March 2021 data showed that bank deposits grew 11.9 per cent year-on-year during 2020-21 compared to 8.8 per cent in 2019-20 on the back of high growth in current account and savings account (CASA) deposits. The share of CASA deposits increased to 43.7 per cent in March 2021 compared to 41.7 per cent a year ago. Among institutional categories, the household sector held 64.1 per cent share in total deposits. Individuals, including Hindu Undivided Families (HUFs), were the major constituent of the household sector and contributed 55.8 per cent in aggregate deposits.

The data showed bank deposits of non-financial corporations surged by 18.8 per cent during 2020-21 and their share in total deposits increased to 16.2 per cent in March 2021. Metropolitan branches of banks, which account for over half of total deposits, accounted for 59.6 per cent of incremental deposits during 2020-21 as against 43.2 per cent in the previous year. Three major states -- Maharashtra, UP and Karnataka -- held one-third of total household sector's outstanding deposits and over 40 per cent of its incremental deposits during 2020-21. Share of private sector banks in total bank deposits continued to rise at the cost of public sector banks and stood at 30.5 per cent (29.5 per cent a year ago), accounting for about half of the deposits of financial and non-financial corporations as well as rest of the world sectors.

With the downward shift in the interest rates on term deposits, the share of term deposits carrying less than 6 per cent interest rate surged to 69 per cent in March 2021 from 21.3 per cent a year ago. The interest rate bracket of 5 to less than 6 per cent had highest concentration at 36.8 per cent of total term deposits. the data showed the share of short-term deposits (original maturity of less than one year) rose to 32.8 per cent (25.4 per cent a year ago).

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17882.20, up by 59.25 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 17857.50 and 17947.65. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Asian Paints up by 4.50%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.37%, HCL Tech. up by 2.57%, Grasim Industries up by 2.37% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.77%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 2.03%, Tata Steel down by 1.77%, Shree Cement down by 1.46%, SBI down by 1.41% and Tata Consumer Products down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Hang Seng decreased 6.87 points or 0.03% to 24,504.11, Straits Times trembled 3.70 points or 0.12% to 3,072.74, KOSPI fell 3.39 points or 0.11% to 3,124.19 and Shanghai Composite declined 2.47 points or 0.07% to 3637.87. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite soared 0.02 points or 0.01% to 6,142.73, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 131.37 points or 0.77% to 17,209.59 and Nikkei 225 surged 591.27 points or 1.99% to 30,230.67.

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