Indian share markets extended losses in the final hour of trade today and ended deep in the red.

Benchmark indices turned volatile, tracking mixed cues from Asian peers as investors weighed the impact of rising Covid-19 cases, and awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 562 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty ended down by 189 points.

The BSE Sensex breached below the 50,000 levels, while the NSE Nifty broke 14,750-mark.

ITC was among the top gainers today. ONGC, on the other hand, was among the top losers today.

SGX Nifty was trading at 14,770, down by 188 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid cap index and the BSE Small cap index ended down by 2.3% and 2.1%, respectively.

On the sectoral front, energy stocks, power stocks, and realty stocks were among the hardest hit.

Shares of Deepak Fertilizers and KEI Industries hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian share markets ended on a negative note today. Both, the Nikkei and the Hang Seng ended lower by 0.1%.

US stock futures are trading mixed today. Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 42 points (down 0.3%), while Dow Futures are trading on a flat note.

The rupee is trading at 72.50 against the US$.

Here are the Top 5 Factors Why Indian Stock Markets Fell Today

Weak Global Cues: Asian stock markets steadied but were under pressure today as investors assessed economic recovery and the risk of a shift in the Fed's dovish policy projections.

US Fed Outcome: Investors turned cautious ahead of the US Fed outcome due later today. While the Fed is expected to keep the rates low, investors are keen to see Fed's commentary on the economy and inflation.

Rising Covid-19 Cases: Rising Covid-19 cases dampened investor sentiments. India's daily coronavirus infections have jumped by 28,903, data from the health ministry showed.

It was the highest increase since December 13, taking the nationwide tally to 11.44 million.

Rising Bond Yields: Another factor that has turned out to be a concern is rising bond yields globally. The US 10-year yield, firm at around 1.62%, is keeping bulls down.

Profit Booking: Apart from the above, losses were also seen as the share market succumbed to profit-booking.

We will keep you updated on how these factors develop in the coming days and what effect they have on Indian stock markets. Stay tuned!

In news from the commodity space, gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 44,968 per 10 grams.

Domestic gold and silver prices struggled amid a similar trend in global markets as investors remained cautious ahead of the US Fed policy announcement.

On MCX, gold futures gained 0.5% intraday to Rs 45,037 per 10 gram while silver futures were flat at Rs 66,950 per kg.

In the previous session, gold had dipped 0.2% while silver had declined 1.1%.

Among gold ETFs, Nippon India Gold Bees ETF and IDBI Gold ETF were among the top gainers today.

Note that gold prices have fallen as much as 20% from the recent highs. Prices have fallen from a high of Rs 56,191 in August 2020 to a low of Rs 44,150 in the first week of March 2021.

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.

Even with the recent volatility in prices, gold remains among the best-performing commodities this year to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

Many gold bulls are doubting the long-term potential of gold as an investment.

In news from the IPO space...

The initial public offering (IPO) of Nazara Technologies, which is backed by marquee investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and IIFL, has seen a subscription 2.74 times on the first day of bidding. The issue will be open till March 19.

Retail investors put in 10.70 times more bids than the portion reserved for them. The portion set aside for non-institutional investors was subscribed 2.22 times and that of employees is booked 97%.

The company is planning to raise around Rs 5.8 billion through this issue, of which it has already garnered Rs 2.6 billion via anchor book.

Goldman Sachs India, Government of Singapore, Aberdeen Standard Asia Focus, Fidelity Funds, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Nomura, Hornbill Orchid India Fund, and Steadview Capital Mauritius, invested in the mobile gaming company through anchor book route.

The IPO is an offer for sale (OFS) of 5.3 million shares being sold in the price band of Rs 1,100-1,101 per equity share, representing a 16.7% stake in the company.

How this IPO sails through remains to be seen.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Vedanta was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of Vedanta hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 230 after the promoter, Vedanta Resources Plc, raised the open offer price for buying shares in flagship Indian firm to Rs 235 per share from Rs 160 per share earlier.

Vedanta Resources has also revised the number of shares it wants to buy to 651 million shares (17.51% of voting share capital of Vedanta) as compared to 371.7 million shares earlier (10% of voting share capital of Vedanta earlier).

Earlier in January 2021, Vedanta resources had offered to buy up to 10% of voting share capital of Vedanta at Rs 160 per share.

The total consideration for the offer is Rs 153 billion and if the offer is successful, Vedanta Resources' shareholding in Vedanta will increase from the current 55.1% to 72.6% post the transaction.

Vedanta's share price ended the day down by 1%.