Sensex, Nifty trade flat after starting in top gear; gaming stocks crash

• Banking stocks are doing well with the Bank Nifty trading just below the 45,000 mark.
• On Nifty50, ONGC is the top gainer while UltraTech is the top loser.
• Gaming stocks have crashed after a GST Council decision to apply a uniform 28% tax.

Indian market's benchmark indices, The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, started Wednesday on a bullish note but fell soon after to trade flat. The Sensex jumps 356.13 points to 65,700.30 in early trade while the Nifty climbs 102.45 points to 19,458.35.

The banking stocks are doing well with the Bank Nifty trading just below the 45,000 mark. The PSU Bank index is leading this charge and is the top sectoral gainer. The small caps are also continuing their positive march with the Smallcap index trading a percent in the green at the time of publishing this story. Realty, IT and metal sectors are the laggards.

In stock specific action on Nifty50, ONGC is the top gainer, up 2% while UltraTech is the top loser, down 2%.

In the neighbouring mint street, the Indian rupee gained 16 paise to 82.25 against the US dollar in early trade as weakness of the American currency in the overseas market and steady foreign fund inflows supported investors' sentiment. However, a surge in crude oil prices capped sharp gains for the local unit, forex traders said.

In news specific action, gaming stocks like Nazara Tech, Delta Corp etc. have cracked as much as 1% after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council last evening decided on levying 28% uniform GST on online gaming, horse racing and casinos on the full-face value of bets.

“We are disappointed that the GST Council and authorities have chosen to apply 28% GST on the total entry amount including prize money. As pointed out by FIFS and many of its members on numerous occasions, change in valuation to tax on the total consideration will cause irreversible damage to the industry, loss of revenue to the exchequer and loss of employment for lakhs of skilled engineers..." reads a statement from the Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS).