Share markets in India are presently trading flat.

The BSE Sensex is trading up by 17 points, flat at 51,954 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 7 points.

ONGC and Bajaj Auto are among the top gainers today. Tata Steel and JSW Steel are among the top losers today.

Both the BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index are trading down by 0.5%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the metal sector, are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

On the other hand, stocks from the energy sector, are witnessing most of the buying interest.

US stock futures are trading higher today, indicating a positive opening for Wall Street.

Nasdaq Futures are trading up by 23 points (up 0.2%) while Dow Futures are trading up by 39 points (up 0.1%)

The rupee is trading at 72.75 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.6% at Rs 49,121 per 10 grams.

Gold prices edged higher in Indian markets today, supported by positive global cues. August gold futures on MCX were up 0.2% to Rs 49,469 per 10 grams. In the previous session, gold had risen 0.5%.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is Magma Fincorp.

Magma Fincorp has appointed Mr Adar Poonawalla as its Chairman as part of a management overhaul after the Poonawalla-controlled Rising Sun Holdings acquired a controlling stake in it.

Rising Sun invested Rs 34.5 bn in the non-banking finance company earlier this month. Magma will soon be rebranded as Poonawalla Group company.

The company also reported widening of net losses to Rs 6.3 bn in the March quarter from Rs 350 m loss in the year-ago period on account of aggressive provisioning to cover stressed assets.

The company's revenue shrunk to Rs 4.5 bn from Rs 5.3 bn over the same period.

It cleaned its balance sheet by writing off all default accounts beyond the 90 days past due in the SME lending business, beyond 180 days past due in the vehicle finance business, and over 730 days past due in the affordable housing finance business.

It has also made 100% provisions against these accounts, leading to a rise in provision coverage ratio (PCR) to 68.6% from 36.5% last year.

At the time of writing, shares of Magma Fincorp were locked in an upper circuit of 5% on the BSE.

Speaking of Magma Fincorp, have a look at the chart below to see how the company has performed over the past year:

In the past year, shares of the company have gained 921%.

Moving on to news from the macroeconomic space...

CPAI Asks Market Regulator to Continue with Current 50% Peak Margin Requirement

The Commodity Participants Association of India (CPAI) has urged the Ministry of Finance and the market regulator to continue with the current level of 50% peak margins and defer the proposed higher limit of 75%.

The association has raised concerns ahead of the rollout of the new 75% peak margin requirement from 1 June 2021.

Peak margin is the maximum margin obligation of a market participant at any given time and applies to both equity and commodity

In its virtual meeting with the market regulator on 28 May, the CPAI said that trading volumes have fallen sharply in the last few months and will dip further with a peak margin increased to 75% from June.

Nowhere in the world, clients are required to pay upfront peak margins. Logically, margins are to be collected at the end of the day and not when the trade is open.

Narinder Wadhwa, President, CPAI said penalizing investors for short of margin during the intra-day position is unjustified as no one in the market can predict the price movement of a particular stock or commodity in a day.

Peak margin rules also dictate a short-margin penalty, ranging from 0.5-5% of the shortfall per day, if brokers fail to secure the minimum margin for intra-day positions.

The cost of trading in India is already the highest in the world and these kinds of measures would further drive away investors to international markets, he said.

The market regulator started levying a peak margin of 25% between December 2020 and February 2021. It increased it to 50% between March and May and further to 75% in June. It will increase it to 100% in September 2021.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.