After five days of consecutive bullish rally, Indian share markets reversed trend today, in line with global equities, and fell on to bearish territory, amid profit booking.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 144 points. The NSE Nifty ended down by 51 points.

Nestle was among the top gainers today. UltraTech Cement, on the other hand, was among the top losers today.

SGX Nifty was trading at 13,523, down by 44 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended down by 0.6%. The BSE Small Cap index ended lower by 0.7%.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the realty sector and FMCG sector witnessing buying interest. Power and auto stocks, on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Telecom stocks were in focus today after it was reported that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) will soon announce spectrum bands crucial for rolling out 5G services.

Shares of Info Edge and Nestle hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian share markets ended lower today as investors kept an eye on Brexit trade talks as well as ongoing negotiations in the US for a coronavirus relief package.

As of the most recent closing prices, the Nikkei ended down by 0.2% and the Hang Seng ended down by 0.4%.

US stock futures are trading mixed. Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 12 points (down 0.1%), while Dow Futures are trading up by 58 points (up 0.2%).

The rupee is trading at 73.66 against the US$.

Gold ETFs Turn Negative After 7 Months

In news from the commodity space, gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) offered by domestic mutual funds saw net redemptions of Rs 1.4 billion in November - their first outflow since March.

Between April and October, these funds had seen inflows of nearly Rs 50 billion.

Reports state that the correction in gold prices has discouraged some investors from investing in gold.

After hitting a record high in August, gold prices have come off by more than 12%. However, on a year-to-date basis, gold is up more than 25%.

Domestic gold and silver prices struggled today as US lawmakers were unable to reach a breakthrough in stimulus talks.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX fell 0.6% to Rs 48,935 per 10 grams.

In the previous session, gold prices had slumped 1.8% or Rs 920 per 10 grams while silver had tumbled nearly Rs 1,800 or 2.7% per kg.

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.

To know more about gold, you can check out our detailed article on investing in gold here: How to Invest in Gold?

In the latest developments from the IPO space, bread and biscuits maker Mrs Bectors Food Specialities will launch its initial public offer (IPO) on 16 December 2020.

The company is looking to raise Rs 5.4 billion through this issue. The IPO would comprise of a fresh issue of equity shares worth Rs 405.4 million and an offer for sale (OFS) by existing shareholders worth Rs 5 billion.

The issue will remain open for three days till 18 December 2020.

The company has set a price band of Rs 286-288 apiece.

The company will not receive any proceeds from the OFS. The proceeds of the fresh issue will be utilized for financing the project cost towards the expansion of the Rajpura manufacturing facility by establishing a new production line for biscuits.

As per the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP), Mrs Bectors Food Specialities is the largest supplier of buns to quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains such as McDonald's, KFC, Burger King and Carl's Jr.

As per a leading financial daily, Mrs Bectors Food Specialities shares were seen trading at Rs 418 in the grey market, a premium of 45% over the issue price of Rs 288 apiece.

SBI Capital Markets, ICICI Securities and IIFL Securities are the book running lead managers to the issue.

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, in one of his videos, Vijay Bhambwani shares his thoughts on the recent spate of IPOs and what it means for the market.

UPL Tanks 15% on Whistleblower Complaint; CEO Denies Allegation

Moving on to stock-specific news...

UPL was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of UPL, India's largest pesticide company, plunged as much as 15% today after a whistleblower alleged that the company's promoters siphoned off money.

According to an ET Prime report, a whistleblower has alleged that UPL entered into rent deals with a shell company owned by UPL employees.

The report further added that UPL paid crores in rent for properties owned by the shell company, previously owned by UPL chief executive officer Jaidev Shroff.

The report also stated that the whistleblower is a board member and has provided documents to corroborate their claims.

Further, the report said there were certain corporate governance issues with regard to the transactions done by the UPL promoters. The issues were also raised in the past at the company's board and to its former auditor SRBC & Co.

Responding to the above, the UPL management clarified that there was no related party issue as far as its transactions are concerned.

In an exclusive interview, Shroff said the whistleblower's complaint was put to rest in 2017 only. It was fully disclosed and the audit committee at that time had given a clean chit to the company.

Shroff said he believed there was a systematic malicious campaign to spoil the reputation of his family and UPL.

Asked if any large shareholders have exited the company, Shroff said "I have not checked of late. UPL is a widely traded company. I believe there is a decent amount of buying."

UPL share price ended the day down by 11.3%.

Apart from UPL, market participants were also tracking cement stocks today.

Shares of cement companies were under pressure today, falling by up to 5% after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) raided cement companies on price cartelization allegations.

Shares of UltraTech Cement, Ambuja Cements, ACC, Ramco Cement, Star Cement, Orient Cement, Dalmia Bharat, JK Cement, and Birla Corporation fell in the range of 3-5% on the back of the above news.

Ambuja Cements and ACC in a regulatory filing said, the CCI has initiated an investigation against cement companies in India including Ambuja Cements and ACC regarding alleged anti-competitive behavior.

ACC said it is of the firm view that it has acted and continues to act in compliance with competition laws and is fully cooperating with the investigation and providing all necessary information to the authorities.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments in this space. Stay tuned.