Indian share markets witnessed buying interest throughout the day today and ended on a positive note.

Benchmark indices erased some of their gains during the last hour of trading but still ended in green.

In early trade today, the BSE Sensex rose over 450 points and reclaimed the 35,000-mark. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood higher by 180 points (up 0.5%).

The NSE Nifty closed higher by 67 points (up 0.7%).

The SGX Nifty was trading at 10,296, up by 49 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day up by 2%, while the BSE Small-Cap index ended up by 1.4%.

On the sectoral front, gains were largely seen in the metal sector and healthcare sector.

IT stocks on the other hand, witnessed selling pressure.

Asian stock markets ended on a negative note today as the number of coronavirus cases stateside soared again.

As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng ended down by 0.5% and the Shanghai Composite stood lower by 0.1%. The Nikkei ended down by 0.2%.

The rupee is trading at 76.03 against the US$.

Note that stock markets around the world have witnessed one of the most volatile phases in 2020 so far. One month we see a sharp decline followed by a sharp up move the next month.

In her latest video, Richa Agarwal, editor of our premium smallcap service Hidden Treasure, shares her thoughts on the implications of the market volatility for the potential returns in the smallcap space.

Tune in to find out more...

Moving on, Glenmark Pharma and Indiabulls Housing Finance were among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of Glenmark Pharma zoomed 40% today, its biggest intraday rise, after the company launched antiviral drug Favipiravir, under the brand name FabiFlu, for the treatment of mild to moderate Covid-19 cases in India.

Fabiflu, available as a 200 mg tablet, has been priced at Rs 103 per tablet. The recommended dosage duration has been fixed for 14 days, the company said.

Meanwhile, shares of Indiabulls Housing Finance surged over 20%. In the past two days, shares of the company have surged about 60% following a number of bulk deals, including one in which Morgan Stanley acquired a stake in the company.

According to the bulk deal data available on NSE, Morgan Stanley Asia (Singapore) Pte. bought 45,22,602 shares of the company at the rate of Rs 184.76 per share on Friday. This puts the transaction value at Rs 835.6 million.

In news from the power sector, Adani Power's board has approved the proposal to delist the company's equity shares from stock exchanges.

The company has worked out the floor price of an equity share of Rs 33.82 to buy 965.3 million scrips with the public for about Rs 32.6 billion.

In a regulatory filing, the company said it will seek shareholders nod for delisting on BSE and NSE through a postal ballot.

Adani Power share price ended the day up by 0.3%.

Moving on to news from the commodity space, domestic gold prices extended gains today, hitting a new high amid a global rally.

On Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), August gold futures rose 0.7% to Rs 48,289 per 10 gram.

Tracking gold, silver also posted strong gains. July silver futures on MCX rose 1.2% to Rs 49,190 per kg.

In the previous session, gold and silver prices had surged 1.2% and 1.5%.

In global markets, gold prices hit a one-month high as a surge in coronavirus cases dented investor sentiment towards riskier assets.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday, with the total rising by 183,020 in a 24-hour period.

Worries about a delay in global economic recovery prompted investors to seek the safe-haven metal.

Note that gold prices have also been lifted by a wall of cash from governments and central banks around the world as they continue to provide much-needed support to pandemic-hit economies.

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.

Here's what we wrote about this in one of the editions of The 5 Minute WrapUp...

• In fact, gold has delivered double-digit gains in 10 of the last 15 years.
  
  During the entire 15-year period, gold has shot up 555% (compounded annual return of 12.1%).
  
  During the same period, the Sensex surged 511% (compounded annual return of 12.0%). If you include dividends, the Sensex returns would be higher than gold by a couple of percentage points.
  
  One must note that the Sensex returns are not representative of the broader market returns. Moreover, gold was a no-brainer. You didn't have to study financial statements, business models and forecast future earnings growth to get a double-digit return on your investment.

In one of his videos, Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Fast Profits Daily explains why this year's US presidential elections could be bullish for gold.

As per him, the US presidential cycle may not be as predictable this time as it usually is. But there is good money to be made if you can play this trend correctly.

He shows a simple way to profit from this important event.