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Informist, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India Friday, tracking losses in the COMEX because of profit-booking after three days of gains. The yellow metal traded in a narrow range as investors remained wary ahead of the US Institute of Supply Management manufacturing purchasing managers' index data later in the day.

However, the downside in the yellow metal was cushioned by weakness in the dollar, which makes commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for holders of other currencies. At 1500 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength in the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.3% at 108.96.

At 1500 IST, the most-active February GOLD contract on the MCX was down 0.1% at INR 77,646 per 10 grams. The most-active February contract on the COMEX was 0.1% higher at $2,667.60 per ounce. The highest call open interest for gold was at INR 78,000-INR 80,000 strike prices, suggesting a bullish view. The highest put open interest was at the INR 74,000 strike for the Jan. 27 contract.

On Thursday, gold holdings with SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, remained steady for the fourth successive day at 872.52 tonnes. The fund has a market value of $72.21 billion.

SILVER contracts traded higher, taking cues from COMEX, on the expectation of improved industrial demand and value buying. At 1510 IST, the most-active March contract on the MCX was up 0.5% at INR 89,647 per kg. The same-month contract on the COMEX was up 0.9% at $30.17 per ounce.

The MCX Bulldex, an index that tracks the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was down 5 points at 18825 points. Until 1514 IST, the February and April gold contracts recorded turnovers of INR 13.47 billion and INR 1.93 billion, respectively. The March and May silver contracts saw turnovers of INR 8.69 billion and INR 584.79 million, respectively.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, fell to 89.31 on Friday, indicating that gold had underperformed silver. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold. The ratio was 89.97 on Thursday.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 77,185–INR 78,030 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,646.0–$2,684.90 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 88,840-INR 90,799 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $29.49-$31.03 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 85.79

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

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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