Share markets in India are presently trading marginally lower.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 4 points, flat, at 54,273 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 9 points.

Mahindra & Mahindra and Tech Mahindra are among the top gainers today. SBI Life and Bharti Airtel are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading down by 0.9%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading down by 0.6%.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the telecom sector are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

On the other hand, stocks from the banking sector are witnessing most of the buying interest.

US stock futures are trading lower today, indicating a negative opening for Wall Street.

Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 45 points (down 0.3%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 84 points (down 0.2%)

The rupee is trading at 74.22 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down 0.9% at Rs 46,245 per 10 grams.

In global markets, gold prices slumped as much as 4.4% today as better than expected US jobs data fuelled fears that the Federal Reserve would raise rates quicker than expected. Spot gold was down 2.3% to US$ 1,722.1 per ounce.

Tracking a global selloff in precious metals, gold prices continued to skid in India. On MCX, gold futures fell 1.3% or Rs 600 to a four-month low of Rs 46,029 per 10 grams. In the previous session, gold had plunged about Rs 1,000.

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.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Among the buzzing stocks, today is BASF India.

Shares of BASF India surged 12% in early trade today after the company returned to the black in the June 2021 quarter. The specialty chemicals maker reported a net profit of Rs 2 bn for the quarter against a loss of Rs 311.8 m during the corresponding period last year.

The company's revenue from operations grew by 69.8% year on year (YoY) to Rs 29.8 bn compared to Rs 17.6 bn in the June 2020 quarter as most business segments of the company delivered profitable growth.

BASF India, a 73.3% subsidiary of BASF SE, is the flagship company of the BASF group in India. The portfolio of BASF SE is organized under six segments - chemicals, materials, industrial solutions, surface technologies, nutrition & care, and agricultural solutions.

The company receives strong operational as well as product support from BASF SE, one of the leading chemical companies in the world. A high level of integration between the parent and the Indian arm reflects synergies arising from similar businesses.

How the stock performs in the long term remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.

At the time of writing, BASF India shares were trading up by 6.1% on the BSE.