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Informist, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of GOLD fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and COMEX today as the dollar extended gains for the fourth straight day. However, the rising escalation in West Asia restricted the downside in the yellow metal.

The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.3% at 101.88 ahead of US September non-farm payrolls data, due Friday. A firm dollar makes commodities priced in the greenback expensive for holders of other currencies, dulling the demand for bullion.

At 1852 IST, the most active December GOLD contract on the MCX was down 0.5% at INR 75,312 per 10 gm. The most active December contract on COMEX was 0.1% lower at $2,668.2 per ounce. The highest call open interest for gold was at INR 76,000-77,000 strike price, suggesting a bullish view, while the highest put open interest was at INR 73,000 strike for the Nov. 26 gold contract.

"Gold is under pressure on rebounding US yields and a firmer dollar as the US ADP (Automatic Data Processing) data released yesterday (Wednesday) came in at 143,000 vs the forecast of 120,000. Fed's Barkin leaning towards 25-basis-points rate cut in his Wednesday’s speech and a lack of any major escalations in the Middle East after Iran firing ballistic missiles on Israel are also weighing on the metal," Praveen Singh, associate vice-president, fundamental currencies and commodities, at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said in an email note.

Gold holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained steady at 874.82 tonnes. The fund has a market value of $74.82 billion.

SILVER prices rose, taking cues from COMEX and a weak rupee against the dollar, which makes commodities denominted in the greenback expensive for domestic buyers. At 1859 IST, the most active December contract of silver on the MCX was up 0.8% at INR 92,083 per kg. The same-month contract on COMEX was 0.2% higher at $31.98 per ounce.

The MCX Bulldex, an index that tracks the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was down 56 points at 18934 points. As of 1903 IST, the December and February gold contracts recorded turnovers of INR 31.09 billion and INR 1.41 billion, respectively, on the MCX. The December and March contracts of silver saw turnovers of INR 20.43 billion and INR 1.15 billion, respectively.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 75,075–INR 76,815 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,646.68–$2,677.05 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 90,700-INR 92,300 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $31.20-$32.47 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 83.97

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

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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