Share markets in India are presently trading marginally lower.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 162 points, down 0.3%, at 59,974 levels.

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading down by 48 points.

Titan and Bajaj Auto are among the top gainers today. HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra are among the top losers today.

The BSE Mid Cap index is trading up by 0.1%.

The BSE Small Cap index is trading flat.

On the sectoral front, stocks from the consumer durables sector and FMCG sector are witnessing most of the buying interest.

On the other hand, stocks from the software sector are witnessing most of the selling pressure.

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

Nasdaq Futures are trading down by 75 points (down 0.5%) while Dow Futures are trading down by 158 points (down 0.5%).

The rupee is trading at 75.73 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading up by 0.3% at Rs 47,618 per 10 grams.

Moving on to stock-specific news...

Gold prices were muted in Indian markets today amid subdued global cues. On MCX, gold futures were marginally higher at Rs 47,137 per 10 grams.

In global markets, gold was flat as the dollar hovered close to a one-year high against a basket of currencies amid expectations that the Fed could soon start normalizing policy. Spot gold was unchanged at US$ 1,753.7 per ounce.

Note that gold has struggled this year after hitting a record high of Rs 56,200 last year amid a stronger US dollar and hopes of faster economic recovery.

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 PI Industries.

Shares of PI Industries rose over 2% in an otherwise weak market after the company said it executed two joint venture agreements with Polymath Holding.

The agreements are for undertaking the business of manufacturing and selling products for biochemistry processes and biochemical-enabled pharmaceutical intermediates.

In the first joint venture - JVC-1, PI Industries will hold a 51% stake while Polymath will hold the remaining 49%.

The board of JVC-1 will comprise of three directors wherein PI Industries or its affiliate will have the right to nominate two directors. Polymath will have the right to nominate one director.

In the second joint venture agreement - JVC -2, PI Industries will hold 85% of the paid-up share capital while the remaining 15% will be held by Polymath.

The board of JVC-2 will also comprise three directors, following a similar allocation as the board of JVC-1.

How this pans out remains to be seen. Meanwhile, stay tuned for more updates from this space.

Moving on to news from the software sector...

HCL Technologies Expands Strategic Partnership with Google Cloud

HCL Technologies (HCL) has expanded its strategic partnership with Google Cloud to jointly launch healthcare and life sciences solutions for customers.

This partnership will deliver the best of HCL and Google Cloud's deep health care and life sciences domain capabilities through co-innovation.

It will also address the shifts in the industry.

HCL will establish a joint center of excellence (CoE) for Google Cloud with industry subject matter experts.

Google Cloud-certified intrapreneurs will deliver solutions for the payer, provider, Medtech, and biopharma customers.

The center will develop solutions that address critical industry issues, such as interoperability, data governance, and security while delivering a superior customer experience.

HCL's Google Cloud Native Labs will also help accelerate these solutions with Google Cloud support, which is positioned to deliver solutions through its native data, AI offerings, and security capabilities.

We will keep you posted on more updates from this space. Stay tuned.