Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day today and ended on a flat note.

Benchmark indices fell more than 1% before recovering partial losses, amid a sell-off in banking, financial services, and IT shares.

Pfizer's (PFE) share price jumped over 5% after reports emerged that the United Kingdom (UK) had authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 37 points. The NSE Nifty ended up by 5 points.

ONGC and Asian Paints were among the top gainers today. Kotak Mahindra Bank, on the other hand, was among the top losers today.

SGX Nifty was trading at 13,159, up by 16 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended up by 0.6%. The BSE Small Cap index ended higher by 0.7%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and metal sector witnessing buying interest. Auto stocks also rose after wholesale numbers for November came in higher than expected.

Banking stocks and finance stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Shanghai Composite ended down by 0.1% and the Nikkei ended up by 0.1%.

European stock markets are trading marginally lower, tracking mixed sentiment in their US and Asia-Pacific counterparts.

US stock futures are trading flat. Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 4 points, while Dow Futures are trading down by 87 points (down 0.3%).

The rupee is trading at 73.76 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.9% at Rs 48,699 per 10 grams.

Domestic gold and silver prices edged higher today despite weak global rates.

In the previous session, the precious metals had seen a sharp up move. Gold had jumped 1.4% or Rs 700 per 10 grams while silver had surged about Rs 3,000 per kg.

In global markets, gold was weighed down by optimism that the global economy can finally get back on course in 2021 with some pharma giants seeking approval for their covid vaccine candidates. On the other hand, expectations of further US stimulus helped support gold prices.

Despite the recent price drop, gold ETFs saw outflows. Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, fell 0.3% to 1,191.28 tonnes on Tuesday from 1,194.78 tonnes on Monday.

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.

The recent price volatility in the bullion market has rattled many traders. Even with the recent volatility in prices, gold remains among the best-performing commodities this year to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

In the latest developments from the IPO space, the Rs 8.1 billion IPO of Burger King got fully subscribed today, within two hours of the kick start of the bidding process.

The initial public offering was subscribed 2.1 times so far. The issue received bids for 158.2 million equity shares against an IPO size of 74.5 million equity shares, as per the data available on stock exchanges.

The IPO consists of a fresh issue of Rs 4.5 billion and an offer for sale (OFS) of up to 60 million shares, aggregating Rs 3.6 billion.

The price band for the issue has been fixed at Rs 59-60 per share.

The company also raised Rs 3.6 billion from 55 anchor investors on December 1, ahead of its public issue opening.

Sundaram MF, Steinberg India Emerging Opportunities Fund, ICICI Prudential, Samsung India Securities, Nippon Life, Fidelity Funds, Government of Singapore, Eastspring Investments India, Aditya Birla Sun Life Trustee, Elara India Opportunities Fund, IDFC MF, SBI MF, Monetary Authority of Singapore, HDFC MF and Amansa Holdings are among those investors participated in anchor book.

How the above IPO sails through remains to be seen. Meanwhile, we will keep you updated on the latest developments in this space.

Speaking of IPOs, so far this year, 12 companies have raised nearly Rs 250 billion through IPOs compared with Rs 123.6 billion raised by 16 companies in 2019.

Some of the companies that had deferred their IPO plans, now want to tap the market again on robust investor appetite, said bankers.

Furthermore, nearly half a dozen companies are lining up to launch their IPO this month.

Companies like Suryoday Small Finance Bank, ESAF Small Finance Bank, Nazara Technologies, RailTel, Burger King, Kalyan Jewellers, and Antony Waste Management are among those that are conducting road shows and planning IPOs in December, The Economic Times mentioned in a report citing bankers.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

GAIL (India) was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of the company jumped 8% intraday today on the back of heavy volumes in an otherwise subdued market. Trading volumes on the counter nearly doubled.

The stock was trading at its highest level since February 20, 2020.

In the past three trading days, GAIL (India) share price has rallied as much as 18% after oil regulator Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) notified regulations for unified gas transmission tariff structure.

The tariffs will be applicable based on a two-zone structure related to distance from the source of gas.

Currently, the tariff is levied in proportion to the distance transported - the longer the distance, the higher is the charge. This resulted in consumers away from the coast paying higher charges as compared to those near it.

PNGRB has now notified a two-zone tariff structure - Zone-1 will be 300-km from the source of gas (gas field or LNG import terminal) and Zone-II will be beyond that.

PNGRB said the tariff for the first tariff zone will be 40% of the tariff for the second zone.

Moving on to news from the metal sector, metal stocks continued their upward trend with the Nifty Metal index gaining over 2% in intraday trade today, hitting a 52-week high on the improved demand outlook.

Shares of Nalco, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), and Hindustan Copper from the index were up between 5-7%. Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), NMDC, JSW Steel, and Tata Steel, on the other hand, ended up in the range of 2-3%.

On account of improvement in demand coupled with a rise in prices of iron ore, Indian steel mills have hiked prices (with effect from December 1) by Rs 2,000-2,500 per tonne, media reports suggested.

Post the hike, the prices of hot-rolled coil (HRC) is at Rs 47,000 per tonne.

Metal sector reported a positive July-September quarter (Q2FY21) performance primarily on account of higher capacity utilization and healthy realizations sequentially.

During Q2FY21, there was a sequential improvement in base metal prices.

In the October metal sector report, Care Ratings had said "the recovery in global economic activity and China's infrastructure spend will keep demand for industrial metals strong. Over the next 6 months, prices may remain firm at the current levels as demand recovery in China and the rest of the world continues to gather pace. Increase in raw materials prices may push prices upwards."