Share markets in India are presently trading on a negative note, tracking a selloff in global equities amid rising concerns over Chinese coronavirus epidemic.
Barring IT stocks, all sectoral indices are trading on a negative note with stocks in the metal sector, auto sector and telecom sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.
The BSE Sensex is trading down by 355 points (down 0.9%), while the NSE Nifty is trading down by 112 points (down 0.9%).
The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.2% and the BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.3%.
The rupee is trading at Rs 71.83 against the US$.
In news from the commodity space, a weaker rupee and a sharp rise in global rates pushed domestic gold prices to new highs today. April gold futures jumped 0.9% to Rs 43,036 per 10 gram.
Last week, prices had surged about Rs 1,800 per 10 gram.
Tracking gold, silver prices also moved higher. Silver futures on MCX rose 0.64% to Rs 48,615 per kg.
The rupee fell to 71.89 against the US$ today, tracking weakness in other Asian currencies.
In global markets, gold prices jumped over 2% today to their highest in over seven years as a spike in coronavirus cases outside China pushed investors towards bullion, which is considered a safe-haven in times of uncertainty. Spot gold rates rose to as much as US$ 1,678.58 an ounce.
South Korea, Italy and Iran reported a sharp spike in infections, although the total number of cases outside China remains relatively small.
Note that the investment demand for gold has seen an uptick. As per a leading financial daily, holdings in gold-backed exchange traded funds climbed for 22 straight sessions through Thursday, the longest ever run.
Speaking of gold, 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...
Gold Has Been a Shining Long-Term Investment
As you can see, barring just two years - 2013 and 2015, gold has delivered positive returns in 13 of the last 15 years.
Moving on to news from the pharma sector, shares of Aurobindo Pharma slipped 17% today after the US drug regulator revoked the 'Voluntary Action Initiated' status issued to company's plant in Hyderabad, days after indicating it might not pursue further regulatory action.
Aurobindo Pharma has received further communication from the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on its Unit IV injectable plant stating that the inspection is still open and under review.
The letter issued on February 19, mentions that the establishment inspection report (EIR) with voluntary action indicated (VAI) classification for the facility was erroneously sent to the company and is being retracted.
Last week on Wednesday, the company had said that Unit IV received EIR with VAl status from the USFDA. The stock had rallied 20% on back of the above news.
On November 13, 2019, Aurobindo Pharma had informed the stock exchanges that at the end of the inspection, the company had issued a 'Form 483' with 14 observations. The company added that it believed none of the observations were related to data integrity issues.
Currently, Unit 4 has 15 abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) approvals pending over the next one year.
Aurobindo Pharma share price is presently trading down by 14%.
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