Indian share markets witnessed heavy selling pressure today and ended deep in the red.
Here are the main factors behind today's stock market sell-off:
Reliance-Future Deal Set on Hold: Selling pressure was seen in index heavyweight Reliance Industries after the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) passed an interim order asking Future Group to put its plans of selling its retail business to Reliance Group on hold.
Automobile and Metal Stocks Bleed: Shares of automobiles companies witnessed selling pressure on concerns of the festive season failing to boost vehicle demand.
Meanwhile, the BSE metal index fell as much as 3.5% after JSW Steel reported lower than expected earnings for the quarter ended September 2020.
Weak Global Cues: Weak global cues also dampened sentiment as coronavirus cases increased in the United States and some European nations which raised concerns over global growth.
Rising Infections: US reported the highest single-day spike of over 85,000 cases on October 23, while France also recorded more than 50,000 cases in a day on October 25. Italy ordered to close bars early and shut gyms, while Spain announced a nationwide curfew to control rising infections.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 540 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty ended down by 163 points.
Hero MotoCorp was the top loser in NSE. Meanwhile, the top gainers in NSE today include HDFC Life Insurance and Nestle India.
SGX Nifty was trading at 11,804, down by 130 points, at the time of writing.
The BSE Mid Cap index ended down by 1.8%. The BSE Small Cap index fell 0.9%.
On the sectoral front, automobile stocks and metal stocks were among the hardest hit.
Asian stock markets ended on a negative note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Shanghai Composite stood lower by 0.8% and the Nikkei ended down by 0.1%.
European share markets are trading on a negative note as surging coronavirus cases throughout the continent weighed on sentiment, while SAP's plunge led a sharp decline for tech stocks.
US stock futures are trading deep in the red indicating a gap-down opening for Wall Street indices.
Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 104 points (down 0.9%), while Dow Futures are trading down by 273 points (down 1%).
The rupee is trading at 73.97 against the US$.
Gold prices are trading up by 0.1% at Rs 50,893 per 10 grams.
Domestic gold prices edged lower today, before erasing losses later in the session, as an elusive US stimulus package and a stronger US dollar put pressure on the yellow metal.
December gold futures on MCX fell 0.5% to Rs 50,552 per 10 grams while silver futures plunged 1.1% to Rs 61,749 per kg.
In global markets, gold rates fell today to one-week lows as the US stimulus package remained elusive and the dollar strengthened.
Gold ETF investors continued to remain on the sidelines. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund or gold ETF, fell 0.1% to 1,263.80 tonnes on Friday.
Gold premiums in India last week jumped to their highest in nearly three months as jewelers continued to stock up as the festive season gathers pace.
Speaking of the precious yellow metal, how lucrative has gold been as a long-term investment in India?
The chart below shows the annual returns on gold over the last 15 years...
As you can see, barring just two years - 2013 and 2015, gold has delivered positive returns in 13 of the last 15 years.
In recent weeks, gold has remained in a narrow range, after losing momentum since hitting a record high of Rs 56,200 per 10 gram in August.
Moving on to stock-specific news...
Polycab India was among the top buzzing stocks today.
Shares of the company rallied over 8% in early trade today after the company reported strong operational performance for the quarter ended September 2020 (Q2FY21).
Polycab India's consolidated net profit jumped 14% to Rs 2.2 billion in Q2FY21.
Revenue declined 6% YoY to Rs 21.1 billion as against a 50% YoY decline seen in Q1FY21. Sequentially, revenue surged 116.4%.
The company's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) grew 16% year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 3.1 billion.
On the segmental front, the wires and cables business declined 7% YoY to Rs 17.4 billion in Q2FY21 from Rs 18.8 billion in Q2FY20.
Fast-moving electrical goods business grew 25% YoY to Rs 2.4 billion in Q2FY21 from Rs 1.9 billion in Q2FY20.
Polycab India's share price ended the day up by 8.4%.
Apart from Polycab India, market participants were also tracking auto stocks today.
Shares of automobiles companies, mainly two-wheelers, were under pressure today on concerns of the festive season failing to boost vehicle demand.
According to reports, estimates by the Federation of Automobile Dealers' Association (FADA) suggest that the demand for passenger vehicles is expected to decline by 25% this Navratri-Dussehra season, as compared to the last year.
Bajaj Auto share price and Hero MotoCorp share price slipped over 6%, while TVS Motor Company and Eicher Motors were down in the range of 2-4%.
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