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Informist, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold were up on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX on Friday, as higher-than expected US jobs data pushed the dollar lower. A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for those holding other currencies, thus improving demand.

At 1928 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1% at 105.61.

Data released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that the nonfarm payrolls in November were 227,000, up from 12,000 in October. Analysts polled by Dow Jones had estimated the payrolls at 214,000.

Robust gold purchases by global central banks also lent a positive bias. The latest World Gold Council data showed that global central banks had bought 60 tonnes of gold in October.

At 1825 IST, the most-active February contract of GOLD on the MCX was up 0.2% at INR 76,642 per 10 grams. The most-active February contract on COMEX was up 0.4% at $2,680.4 per ounce. The highest call open interest was at INR 77,000-79,000 strike prices, suggesting a bullish view on gold. The highest put open interest was at INR 74,000-73,000 strikes for the Dec. 31 gold contract.

However, upside in the yellow metal was limited because of outflow from gold exchange-traded funds. On Thursday, gold holdings with SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange traded fund, fell by 1.72 tonnes to 871.94 tonnes. The fund has a market value of $73.98 billion. On the National Stock Exchange, the total value of gold ETFs traded Friday was INR 757.2 million, down from INR 872.1 million on Thursday.

SILVER prices rose taking cues from COMEX and a positive trend in gold. At 1825 IST, the most-active March contract of silver on the MCX was up 0.4% at INR 92,802 per kg. The same-month contract on COMEX was 0.6% higher at $31.71 per ounce.

On the options front, the highest call open interest for was at INR 100,000 strike price. The highest put open interest was at INR 85,000 strike for the Feb. 24 expiry.

The MCX Bulldex, an index that tracks the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was down 19 points at 18840 points. At 1827 IST, the February and April gold contracts recorded turnovers of INR 17.80 billion and INR 799.65 million, respectively, on the MCX. The March and May silver contracts saw turnovers of INR 13.35 billion and INR 366.61 million, respectively.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, fell to 84.52 on Friday, indicating that silver had underperformed gold. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold. The ratio was 86.60 on Thursday.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 76,300–77,030 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,641.30–$2,695.0 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 92,065-93,600 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $31.55-$32.20 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 84.69

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

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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