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Mumbai: The capital market regulator is cracking down on gaming apps providing virtual trading services and fantasy games based on the movement of real-time share prices of listed companies, which have mushroomed over the past few years in the wake of high retail investor appetite for stock trading. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked exchanges and depositories not to share real-time price data with third parties in a move aimed at quashing such activities."If the data is used for education or fun purposes it's fine, but monetary incentives can't be allowed based on the performance of the virtual stock portfolio," said a regulatory official. "Then it's like dabba trading, which is illegal."The Sebi action, however, will not impact media agencies providing real-time data feeds.110448882 'Precautionary Measure' Several stock gaming online platforms have been launched in India in recent years. They don't involve real-time trading through stock brokers but users compete with each other on the basis of fictional trading strategies and portfolios. Users of such platforms pay a membership fee to trade and the best performers get prizes."This is a precautionary measure as it's a niche segment," said a member of the Sebi's expert committee on the secondary market. In some developed countries, gaming based on real-time feeds is allowed as exchanges earn a significant portion of their revenue from such data dissemination.However, Sebi rules stipulate that no person should offer any game or league on securities or related to the securities market."If you are doing a wager contract it is not allowed. This is all unauthorised usage of data. We are now putting the responsibility on those who have data," said the regulatory official cited above. "Exchanges and depositories will have to monitor how the data is being utilised."Raj Kundra CaseA few years ago, when Sebi was investigating a case related to businessman Raj Kundra, it had observed that his firm was getting data feeds and engaged in gaming activity based on that."Sebi's circular essentially means that it ends all platforms offering trading competition, demo trading, CFDs (contracts for difference), and more," Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath said on X.In the past, exchanges have warned entities using data scraped from their websites or those of brokers. Despite these warnings, some of the new gaming platforms have been found circumventing rules.Exchanges earn revenue through transactions and the sale of data feeds. Stock brokers get the feeds free as they provide data to clients for trading. When exchanges sell live data feeds to entities other than stock brokers, they charge fees.Monetary incentive Sebi said market price data may be shared for investor education and awareness activities without offering any kind of monetary incentive to the participants and a lag of one day. It has also asked stock exchanges to carry out due diligence while sharing such data.Some participants may be reselling live data to entities developing gaming apps, said people familiar with the matter. Stock exchanges will have to revise their legal agreements on sharing data to include provisions to prevent any kind of misuse by entities.

The strength in the market is expected to continue this week. Technical analysts predict Nifty could reach 23,400. Recommended stocks for trading this week include Reliance, SBI, L&T, Tata Power, Tata Steel, JSW Energy, Granules, JK Cement, BEL, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motors, RCF, Tata Tech, and Tata Elxsi. DHARMESH SHAH HEAD OF TECHNICALS, ICICI SECURITIESWhere is Nifty headed this week? Nifty has recorded a breakout from three months of consolidation backed by faster retracement as it entirely retraced the past nine weeks of consolidation (22,800-21,700) in just two, exhibiting a robust price structure that bodes well for an extension of the ongoing up-move towards our target of 23,400. Multi-sector participation backed by improving market breadth, robust price structure of global markets and lower Brent prices are expected to act as tailwind. What should investors do? We expect volatility to remain high as we approach the end of the general elections coupled with the Q4 earning season. Focus should be on the big picture, as we are in a structural uptrend. The anxiety will subside after the event and the market will follow its structural up-trend. Retracements would provide buying opportunities, and investors should focus on building portfolios and ride the up-trend as immediate support is at 22,400. Sectorally, BFSI, PSU, capital goods and infra, metal, consumption, and energy would remain in focus. On the stock front, in large-caps, we prefer Reliance, SBI, L&T, Tata Power, Tata Steel, HUL, Cipla, and Coal India looks good for 6-9% upside. In midcaps, HPCL, Sona BLW Precision Forgings, JSW Energy, Granules, JK Cement, Whirlpool, JSL, Ircon, KNR Construction, AB Capital looks good for 12-15% gains. 110448701RAJESH PALVIYA HEAD TECHNICAL DERIVATIVES, AXIS SECURITIESWhere is Nifty headed this week? On the weekly chart, the index has formed a long bullish candle with higher high-low compared to the previous week, and has closed above the previous week’s high, indicating a positive bias. The index is moving in a higher-top and higher-bottom formation on the daily char. If Nifty crosses and sustains above 23,200, it would witness buying, leading the index towards 23,400-23,500 levels. However, if it breaks below the 22,800, it would witness selling, taking the index towards 22,600-22,500. What should investors do? We expect stocks like BEL, Ashok Leyland, TVS Motors, HDFC Bank, REC, Chambal Fertilizer, Aurobindo Pharma, GAIL, BPCL, L&T, and Bharat Forge to do well. Traders can initiate a moderately bullish strategy with reduced premium outflow and a lower break-even point called Bull Call Spread of May 30 monthly expiry wherein the they will buy one lot of 23,000 Call strike at Rs 163 and simultaneously sell one lot of 23,400 Call strike at Rs 28 so that net outflow or maximum loss will be restricted to up to Rs 3,375. If Nifty on expiry closes above 23,135, the strategy will start making profit. However, as the risk is limited, so is the profit. The maximum gains will be restricted up to Rs 6,625 only because the gains of the long 23,000 strike Call will be offset by the sold 23,400 strike Call if Nifty closes above 22,400 on expiry.APURVA SHETH HEAD OF MARKET PERSPECTIVES & RESEARCH, SAMCO SECURITIESWhere is Nifty headed this week? Nifty managed to break out after several weeks of sideways consolidation in the range of 21,800 to 22,800. The index slipped lower after crossing the psychological mark of 23,000, indicating some profit booking at higher levels. It is likely to face resistance around the 23,000 as Call-andPut writers slug it out to establish supremacy ahead of the election. A dip towards 22,800 can be used as a buying opportunity in the index. What should investors do? Bank Nifty is a laggard out of the two indices. It is down by about a percent in May while Nifty is up by 1.53%. Bank Nifty can catch up in the last week of May and touch new highs. Traders can look for long opportunities in Bank Nifty at current levels, with a stop loss at 48,500 and a target of 50,000. Midcap stocks like RCF, Tata Tech, Tata Elxsi, Blue Dart and Bharat Forge can be on the radar for short-term trades.

Not long ago, streaming TV came with a promise: Sign up, and commercials will be a thing of the past.Netflix rose to streaming dominance in part by luring customers to an ad-free experience. Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and HBO Max followed that lead.Well, that did not last long.Ads are getting increasingly hard to avoid on streaming services. One by one, Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount+ and Max have added 30- and 60-second commercials in exchange for a slightly lower subscription price. Amazon has turned ads on by default. And the live sports on those services include built-in commercial breaks no matter what price you pay.The importance of advertising was driven home this month when Amazon and Netflix both staged their first in-person presentations during the so-called upfronts, a decades-old television event in New York where media companies try to woo advertisers.Netflix dispatched Shonda Rhimes, the successful executive producer of "Bridgerton" and creator of "Grey's Anatomy," to talk up the service to marketers. Amazon packed its event with celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal, and a live performance from Alicia Keys."Remember when streamers told you, 'We're going to do television a new way, so I'm afraid we won't be needing your little commercials anymore,'" Seth Meyers, the "Late Night" host, told advertisers at one of the events this month. "Cut to a few years later, every episode of 'Shogun' is interrupted by 'Whopper, Whopper, Double Whopper!'"Or as one frustrated consumer vented on social media this past week: "Why am I paying for Prime Video and getting all these commercials? It is beginning to get annoying."Representatives for Netflix and Amazon declined to comment.Perhaps the changed viewing experience was inevitable. Over the past decade, as media companies raced to introduce streaming services to compete with Netflix, they prized subscriber counts above all else.There was just one problem: profits.The companies bled money, and Wall Street soured on their businesses. So executives are turning back the clock. They are ordering lower-cost, old network standbys such as medical dramas, legal shows and sitcoms. They are offering bundled packages to make consumers less tempted to click on the cancel button. (Disney+, Hulu and Max will team up later this year, for instance.) And they are embracing commercials, as a way to increase revenue.Consumers can still avoid most of the ads, for a price. Most streaming services still have an ad-free version, including Amazon, which requires subscribers to pay an extra $3 a month to skip the ads. Apple TV+ continues to offer only an ad-free experience.The commercial tiers, however, are becoming more essential to their business. There were at least 93 million ad-supported streaming subscriptions in the United States at the end of last year, according to estimates from Brian Wieser, an industry analyst, and Antenna, a subscription research firm. In the wake of Amazon's automatic switch to advertising, and more ad-tier customers picked up by other streaming services, Wieser and Antenna estimate that there are at least 170 million ad-supported subscriptions now.Through the first three months of 2024, 56% of new subscribers to a streaming service chose the lower-priced ad-tier, according to Antenna. That was up from 39% a year earlier, the firm said.Executives have tried to assure subscribers that while advertising is back, it won't be as overwhelming as in traditional television.Just a few years ago, an episode of a prestige basic cable drama such as Ryan Murphy's "American Crime Story" was interrupted by 21 minutes of commercials. But ads take up far less time on streaming services. For instance, on Disney+, the average amount of time for commercials is four minutes per hour. On Hulu, it's just over six minutes."There was always this notion that people don't like ads," said Rita Ferro, the president of ad sales at Disney. "I don't think that's true. People don't like bad advertising or a bad advertising experience."In the data-rich streaming world, she argued, the advertising experience is better informed than it was on traditional television, and the company knows what a person's viewing preferences are and "what products are relevant to you," she said.Wieser, the analyst and founder of the consulting firm Madison and Wall, said he expected that even with ads running on streaming services, overall ad revenue would continue to decline for media companies. He projects that the amount of time spent watching ads on television - both streaming and traditional network and cable TV - will fall by 24% by 2027 compared with last year.Part of the reason, he said, is that many people will continue to pay extra to avoid ads on services like Netflix. "The vast majority of Netflix subscribers will never choose an ad-supported option of any price," he said.