SLBM Market Insights from April 2026

The Nifty and Sensex gained 7.5% and 6.9% in April. This rally was driven by the mid-month US - Iran ceasefire, a sharp drop in crude oil prices, attractive valuations, and a lack of major negative surprises during the earnings season. All these together created a favourable environment for short-selling, directional bets, and arbitrage activity, which directly led to a rise in SLBM rentals across different segments.The SLBM activity witnessed a significant jump in April, with the value of rentals reaching close to ₹135 crore and rental volumes crossing 24 crore shares, reflecting increased participation from both lenders and borrowers. Lending volumes remained largely dominated by large and liquid names, but there was also a significant increase in mid-cap participation. Several stocks delivered elevated yields, indicating limited supply and strong demand.Key takeaways:With SLBM, the same stock can produce both rental income and capital appreciation, without changing the ownership and selling the long-term holdings.SLBM's rental value in April 2026 was around ₹135 crore, with 24 crore shares rented across 294 scrips.RVNL had the highest traded volume of 82.08 lakh shares and an average yield of 32.07% for the month of April.Mid-cap stocks also saw a significant increase in participation in April, with ASTRAL, KFINTECH, and PERSISTENT making it to the top traded and top yield lists.Stocks such as CPPLUS (94.20%) and ASTRAL (93.49%) delivered high peak yields, which indicate tight supply and high short-side demand.Here, we explore the SLBM trends, the top traded and yield-generating stocks in SLBM for April 2026.What is SLBM?The Securities Lending and Borrowing Mechanism (SLBM) enables investors to generate passive rental income from their idle securities. On the other hand, it enables borrowers to trade specific securities for short-term trading strategies like short selling and arbitrage without disturbing their own portfolios.Clearing corporations, such as the NSE Clearing Limited (NCL), ensure and facilitate the clearing of all SLBM transactions. This institutional grade structure reduces the counterparty risk. The tenure of lending and borrowing ranges from one month to a maximum of twelve months.The lending fee (or rent) for SLBM is variable and is strongly influenced by market demand, volatility, and liquidity. For market participants, SLBM rental income on some stocks can be even higher than the returns from traditional fixed-income investments, with annualised returns of up to 35% depending on market demand.The SLBM landscape in April 2026The total rented value in the SLBM market in April 2026 was ₹1,35,14,17,712.56 (approx. ₹135 crore) with a total rented volume of 24,00,20,192 shares across 294 active scrips. Two distinct trends were observed in the market in April.The lending volume remains dominated by large-cap tech stocks, driven by institutional demand and systematic arbitrage activity. At the same time, the names like ASTRAL, SBICARD, and RVNL delivered elevated yields, indicating that short sellers were competing for limited supply in these counters and were willing to pay a premium to secure borrowing.For lenders, April demonstrated the environment where SLBM delivers its strongest value. It is due to a volatile, directionally contested market with high short-term opportunities across select names that create higher rental premiums that long-term holders can monetise without disturbing their core positions.Top 25 stocks traded in SLBM - April 2026The stocks with the highest lending volumes and rental demand across the Indian market in April 2026 were as follows: NameExpiryPeak Rent / SharePeak YieldAvg. Rent / ShareAvg. YieldTraded VolumeTraded ValueRVNL7 Jul 2619.660.45%11.1932.07%82,08,9979,18,82,014.07CDSL7 Jul 2615.57.40%7.894.78%8,98,30970,91,782.61CAMS7 Jul 261717.97%5.597.59%8,77,84049,04,356.26ASTRAL2 Jun 2611193.49%48.6525.86%8,62,1814,19,41,510.65ETERNAL5 May 261.2520.60%0.789.40%8,27,8376,42,204.82ASHOKLEY2 Jun 263.6613.21%0.080.63%8,07,30061,847.19PPLPHARMA5 May 261.9927.84%0.916.33%7,86,2817,11,009.77NATIONALUM2 Jun 261.253.46%0.832.28%7,78,4786,45,152.27BHARATFORG2 Jun 267.995.50%4.061.99%7,26,89629,48,049.00JUBLFOOD2 Jun 261554.05%8.4415.77%7,24,56361,15,023.93BLUESTARCO2 Jun 264021.90%14.177.37%7,18,8851,01,85,397.51TRENT5 May 2614.97.76%6.22.18%7,02,15343,53,563.62RELIANCE2 Jun 260.750.75%0.50.33%6,73,5933,36,032.11LICI2 Jun 269.9512.69%4.626.28%6,35,79529,38,453.10COALINDIA2 Jun 262.24.52%0.912.30%56,65,12651,75,485.62TECHM2 Jun 2656.64%3.392.53%5,98,01020,26,204.25WIPRO6 Apr 279.549.15%3.116.95%5,90,96,63118,29,71,002.15PERSISTENT5 May 2614918.03%70.9811.42%5,26,5583,73,73,210.77L&T2 Jun 2630049.26%83.315.64%5,14,1344,28,29,436.34TATAELXSI2 Jun 2659.9919.95%31.677.95%5,10,7591,61,73,808.58IRFC2 Jun 261.029.94%0.745.97%40,92,59030,35,561.69SBICARD2 Jun 2621.9966.73%13.6615.90%4,56,31162,34,542.33NTPC2 Jun 2617.79%0.424.16%4,55,6391,89,623.48NAM-INDIA2 Jun 262529.45%8.948.23%4,25,96638,08,426.55WEBELSOLAR5 May 26264.01%0.6621.77%4,25,0492,81,954.98 Top 25 yield stocks in SLBM - April 2026The stocks that delivered the highest yields for the lenders on their idle holdings in April 2026 were: NameExpiryPeak Rent / SharePeak YieldAvg. Rent / ShareAvg. YieldTraded VolumeTraded ValueCPPLUS5 May 26105.1994.20%105.1994.20%3315.57STARHEALTH5 May 261040.29%8.8935.83%2,00017,787.65RAIN5 May 26236.55%1.8734.20%16,00029,940.00RVNL7 Jul 2619.660.45%11.1932.07%82,08,9979,18,82,014.07TANLA2 Jun 26754.79%4.1231.94%56,0192,30,809.85GALLANTT2 Jun 261534.65%13.7231.70%8,1011,11,168.00CYIENTDLM5 May 26537.41%4.0230.08%223896.60ASTRAL2 Jun 2611193.49%48.6525.86%8,62,1814,19,41,510.65EASEMYTRIP5 May 260.1324.68%0.1324.68%20.26COHANCE5 May 263.537.00%2.1522.71%2,78,7125,99,509.73KFINTECH7 Jul 2639.7530.87%18.7722.16%17,90,7243,36,03,420.31WEBELSOLAR5 May 26264.01%0.6621.77%4,25,0492,81,954.98OBEROIRLTY2 Jun 2662.0138.21%23.6217.53%1,81,56942,89,023.97SOLARA2 Jun 26817.45%817.45%7005,600.00SAGILITY5 May 260.6420.20%0.5416.97%2,4381,310.91WIPRO6 Apr 279.549.15%3.116.95%5,90,96,63118,29,71,002.15HIRECT5 May 261220.85%9.4616.64%50,9344,81,813.44PPLPHARMA5 May 261.9927.84%0.916.33%7,86,2817,11,009.77HAVELLS6 Apr 271523.97%7.8916.33%2,34,84718,52,627.36SBICARD2 Jun 2621.9966.73%13.6615.90%4,56,31162,34,542.33JUBLFOOD2 Jun 261554.05%8.4415.77%7,24,56361,15,023.93L&T2 Jun 2630049.26%83.315.64%5,14,1344,28,29,436.34NCC5 May 261.215.09%1.1915.02%4553.76PVRINOX5 May 26314.87%314.87%1,0003,000.00NLCINDIA5 May 26320.23%2.1814.68%3678.38 The bottom lineApril 2026 further reinforces SLBM as a powerful tool for generating additional returns on long-term investments without selling or altering the underlying portfolio positions. A retail investor owning shares of one of the most common PSU stocks, RVNL, could have earned 32.07% annualised on their idle holdings.These are not speculative returns. They are exchange-cleared transactions with defined settlement. As brokerage platforms make real-time SLBM insights more accessible to market participants, lending out idle stock holdings through SLBM is rapidly transforming from a niche institutional strategy to a broader retail income tool for long-term investors.

SLBM Market Insights from April 2026

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