Domestic equity indices remain in green

Domestic equity indices remained in green in late morning deals. Gains in financial services and IT shares led the headline indices higher. Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outperformed the mainstream indices by rising in the range of 30-35%. However, gains remained capped as the IMF chief has said that a third of the global economy will be in recession this year, and warned that 2023 will be tougher than last year as the US, EU and China will see their economies slow down. There were some buzz in oil and gas industry related stocks, as government announces hike in windfall tax.

On the global front, Asian markets were mostly trading in green despite traders remain concerned amid reports that aggressive monetary policy moves by global central banks this year also could tip the global economy into recession. Back home, in stock specific developments, Zomato dipped after the food aggregator platform company said that Gunjan Patidar, its co-founder and chief technology officer had quit. Patidar was part of the original founders team at Zomato. However, PSP Projects rallied after the company emerged as lowest bidder (L1) for a government project worth Rs 1,364.5 crore (excluding GST) of construction of state of the art high rise office building at Surat, Gujarat.
 
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 61258.70, up by 90.91 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 61004.04 and 61298.43. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.33%, while Small cap index up by 0.34%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.86%, IT up by 0.76%, TECK up by 0.58%, Healthcare up by 0.54% and Telecom up by 0.42%, while Auto down by 0.34%, Metal down by 0.27%, Energy down by 0.20%, Oil & Gas down by 0.13% and Utilities down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 1.14%, Axis Bank up by 1.12%, TCS up by 1.11%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.10% and Indusind Bank up by 0.92%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.89%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.58%, Tata Steel down by 0.50%, Reliance Industries down by 0.40% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.22% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has proposed a self-regulatory mechanism, mandatory verification of players and physical Indian address for online gaming companies. According to the draft ‘online gaming rules’, online gaming companies will be covered under the new IT rules that were issued in 2021 for social media platforms. The online gaming platforms are expected to comply with the laws of the land, including any such law that relates to gambling or betting or the age at which an individual is competent to enter into a contract.

The draft amendments are aimed at addressing the said need while enabling the growth of the online gaming industry in a responsible manner. The draft amendments envisage that an online gaming intermediary will observe the due diligence required under the rules, including reasonable efforts to cause its users not to host, display, upload, publish, transmit or share an online game not in conformity with Indian law, including any law on gambling or betting.

The draft rules prescribe additional due diligence for companies by displaying a registration mark on all online games registered by a self-regulatory body and informing its users regarding its policy related to withdrawal or refund of the deposit, manner of determination and distribution of winnings, fees and other charges payable and KYC procedure for user account registration. Self-regulatory bodies will be registered with the ministry (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) and may register online games of such online gaming intermediaries who are its members and which meet certain criteria. Such bodies will also resolve complaints through a grievance redressal mechanism.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 18236.55, up by 39.10 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 18149.80 and 18240.40. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 4.12%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.00%, Indusind Bank up by 1.21%, Axis Bank up by 1.21% and Tech Mahindra up by 1.12%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 0.73%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.72%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.48%, Reliance Industries down by 0.45% and Coal India down by 0.31% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 87.22 points or 0.62% to 14,224.91, Shanghai Composite gained 19.23 points or 0.62% to 3,108.49, Jakarta Composite soared 38.34 points or 0.56% to 6,889.32 and Hang Seng increased 276.04 points or 1.4% to 20,057.45. However, Straits Times trembled 17.89 points or 0.55% to 3,233.43 and KOSPI fell 0.76 points or 0.03% to 2,224.91.