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Informist, Thursday, Aug 1, 2024

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX were trading higher ahead of the US non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. Analysts polled by Dow Jones estimated payrolls to come in at 185,000 in July from 206,000 in June.

Sentiment for the yellow metal was also boosted by safe-haven demand because of rising geopolitical tensions in West Asia and the prospect of a US Federal Reserve rate cut later this month. The fresh inflows in gold exchange-traded funds also aided the prices.

On Wednesday, gold holdings with SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 2.88 tn to 846.05 tn. The fund has a market value of $65.98 bln.

However, the dollar index rebounded and restricted further gains in bullion. At 1900 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength in the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.3% at 104.35.

At 1900 IST, the most active August gold contract on the MCX was up 1.2% at 69,808 rupees per 10 gm. The same-month contract on the COMEX was up 1% at $2,450.80 per oz. On the options front, the highest call open interest for gold is at 70,000 strike, which suggests a bullish view, while on the downside, the highest put open interest is at 69,000-strike for the Sep 24 gold contract on the MCX.

SILVER prices rose, taking firm cues from the COMEX, and a firm trend in gold. At 1915 IST, the most-active September contract for silver on the MCX was up 0.8% at 84,262 rupees per kg. The same-month contract on the COMEX rose 0.7% at $29.57 per oz.

The MCX Bulldex, an index that tracks the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was up 150 points at 17738 points. As of 1918 IST, the August and October contracts of gold recorded turnovers of 915.72 mln rupees and 35 bln rupees, respectively, on the MCX. The September and December contracts of silver saw turnovers of 25.53 bln rupees and 5.00 bln rupees, respectively.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, rose to 84.51, which indicates that gold outperformed silver. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold. The ratio was 84.22 on Wednesday.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at 69,400–70,250 rupees per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,420–$2,485 an oz

--MCX silver seen at 83,500-85,000 rupees per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $29.30-$29.75 an oz

End

US$1 = 83.72 rupees

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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