Capital market stocks rally as RBI defers liquidity norms to July

The Nifty Capital Markets index surged around 4%, with broad-based gains across exchanges, brokerages, and asset managers. Motilal Oswal Financial Services jumped 6.90%, BSE gained 6.36%, and Angel One advanced 5.78%. Central Depository Services rose 5.59%, while Computer Age Management Services added 5.35%. Groww climbed 4.48%, while Indian Energy Exchange rose 3.7%, KFin Technologies gained 3.64%, and Nippon Life India Asset Management advanced 3.6%.

Other stocks also moved higher. HDFC Asset Management Company rose 3.54%, Multi Commodity Exchange gained 3.32%, and Anand Rathi Wealth advanced 3.15%. Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC rose 1.93%, UTI Asset Management Company gained 1.63%, 360 ONE WAM added 1.24%, and ICICI Prudential Asset Management edged up 0.84%.

The RBI on 30 March 2026 deferred the rollout of revised capital market exposure norms, which were originally scheduled to take effect from 1 April 2026. The framework, announced on 13 February 2026 under the Commercial Banks ? Credit Facilities Amendment Directions, aims to streamline acquisition financing, rationalise lending against financial assets, and tighten funding norms for capital market intermediaries.

The revised rules require margin trading funding exposures to be fully secured with 100% collateral, with at least 50% in cash or cash equivalents, and impose a minimum 40% haircut on shares used as collateral. These measures are designed to reduce leverage and strengthen risk controls, though they may constrain liquidity for brokers and traders.

Analysts said the deferment provides time for a smoother transition, especially as new margin trading funding rules come into effect. While the tighter norms could increase costs over time, the delay has supported near-term sentiment and trading activity.