Benchmarks continue to trade in red in morning deals

Indian equity benchmarks continued their trade in red in morning deals, dragged by Realty, Banking and IT stocks. Traders got anxious with a private report indicating that India's retail inflation likely accelerated to 6.40% in July on surging food prices, breaching the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India's 2%-6% tolerance band for the first time in five months. Investors also preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the outcome of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on August 10. Traders took a note of Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary’s statement that the government lost a little over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2020-21 on account of a cut in corporate taxes. On the global front, Asian markets are trading mostly in red after China inflation data confirmed the recovery in the world's second-biggest economy is losing steam, while resurfacing concerns about US bank stability also capped sentiment. Traders also remained cautious ahead of U.S. inflation readings due this week that could influence the Fed's rate outlook.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 65485.93, down by 360.57 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 65444.38 and 65810.96. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.17%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.43%, Healthcare up by 0.37%, Consumer Durables up by 0.31%, Metal up by 0.21% and Utilities up by 0.09%, while Realty down by 1.18%, Bankex down by 0.70%, IT down by 0.50%, FMCG down by 0.44% and TECK down by 0.40% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.42%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.94%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.56%, JSW Steel up by 0.23% and Titan Company up by 0.21%. On the flip side, HCL Technologies down by 1.25%, TCS down by 1.10%, ITC down by 1.09%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.09% and ICICI Bank down by 1.07% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the 28 per cent GST on full face value of supplies in casinos, race courses and online gaming will result in higher revenues. The online gaming segment grew by 28 per cent in 2021 to reach $1.9 billion, as per NITI Aayog estimates referred in the Draft National Policy for Growth of Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, Comic & Extended Reality sector in India prepared by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

Sitharaman said casinos are currently paying 28 per cent GST on Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR). Online gaming industry supplying actionable claims and some horse race clubs are currently paying GST at the rate of 18 per cent on platform fees/commission ranging from 5 to 20 per cent of the full face value, while some horse race clubs are paying 28 per cent on the full face value.

She said online gaming companies supplying actionable claims and some horse race clubs paying 18 per cent on platform fee/commission are disputing the 28 per cent levy on actionable claims in the form of betting and gambling before various legal fora. She added ‘It is anticipated that the levy of 28 per cent on full face value, as recommended in the 50th GST Council meeting, will result in increase of revenue from current levels.’

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 19480.00, down by 90.85 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 19468.75 and 19581.80. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 3.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.41%, BPCL up by 0.99%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 0.99% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.87%, Divi's Lab down by 1.38%, HCL Technologies down by 1.29%, TCS down by 1.13% and ITC down by 1.01% were the top losers.

Asian markets are trading mostly in red; Taiwan Weighted lost 53.3 points or 0.32% to 16,823.77, Hang Seng declined 10.95 points or 0.06% to 19,173.22, Shanghai Composite weakened 11.6 points or 0.36% to 3,249.02 and Nikkei 225 slipped 142.56 points or 0.44% to 32,234.73.

On the global front, KOSPI increased 32.18 points or 1.23% to 2,606.16 and Jakarta Composite gained 13.58 points or 0.2% to 6,882.39.