Share markets in India climbed off the day's low but are still trading over 1% lower.

Benchmark indices tumbled in the opening trade today, following US and Asian peers that fell amid worries over a resurgence in COVID cases and a gloomy economic projection.

The US Federal Reserve released a gloomy economic outlook at the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. Chairman Jerome Powell warned of a "long road" to recovery.

Wall Street plummeted with all three major US stock indexes losing over 5%, posting their worst one-day percentage drops since March 16, when markets were sent into freefall by the abrupt economic lockdowns put in place to contain the pandemic.

The Nasdaq snapped its three-day streak of record closing highs.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 456 points (down 1.4%), at 33,100 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 135 points (down 1.4%).

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading down by 0.8% and 1.3%, respectively.

Sectoral indices are trading on a negative note with stocks in the IT sector and banking sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.

In news from the commodity space, domestic gold prices fell sharply today after rallying in the previous session. On MCX, August gold futures fell 0.7% to Rs 47,065 per 10 gram after an Rs 800 rally in the previous session.

Tracking gold, silver futures on MCX tumbled Rs 850 to Rs 47,805 per kg. In the previous session, silver had rallied over 1%.

In global markets, gold prices were flat today as a stronger US dollar offset rising safe-haven demand amid gloomy economic projections and renewed fears over a second wave in coronavirus cases.

Global gold rates have rallied about 20% since touching an over three-month low of US$ 1,451 in mid-March.

Meanwhile, the third tranche of sovereign gold bonds of this fiscal, which opened for subscription on Monday, closes today.

The issue price for the same has been fixed at Rs 4,677 per gram.

We will keep you updated on how gold performs in the coming days. Stay tuned.

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, Biocon today said that its biosimilar insulin glargine, co-developed with Mylan, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

The regulator has given nod to the insulin, Semglee, in a vial, and pre-filled pen format to control high blood sugar in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients.

This is the third Biocon-Mylan biosimilar to be approved in the US market after fulphila and trastuzumab, both used for treating cancer patients.

Reports state that USFDA's nod to Semglee, which already has approval in 45 countries, gives a boost to Biocon's ambitious target of US$ 1 billion in sales through its biologics division by FY22.

During the fourth quarter of FY20 (Q4FY20), this segment had reported a de-growth of 21% because of the Covid-19 impact after reporting three consecutive quarters of robust performance.

Note that the company has also committed to provide affordable insulin at Rs 7 per day to lower and middle-income countries as compared to Rs 350 per day currently.

Biocon share price is presently trading down by 0.5%.

Speaking of the pharma sector, in December 2019, co-head of Research at Equitymaster, Tanushree Banerjee had predicted that pharma could be the sector to see a big rebound in 2020.

And rightly so, most pharma companies have re-emerged as the safer bets for investors in the ongoing market turmoil.

In April, the Indian rupee touched a new record low of Rs 76.92 against the US dollar. Most pharma companies generate their revenues through exports. Hence, a depreciating rupee is a positive development for them.