India Bullion
Gold prices up ahead of US non-farm payrolls data
This story was originally published at 17:35 IST on 9 January 2025
Register to read our real-time news.Informist, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025
By Sandeep Sinha
MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold were trading with a positive bias on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX on Thursday, as investors await the US non-farm payrolls data to be released on Friday. Analysts polled by Dow Jones see the payrolls at 155,000 in December, down from 227,000 in November.
The positive sentiment was aided by inflows into gold exchange-traded funds. The latest World Gold Council data showed that global gold-exchange traded funds added 3.6 tonnes of gold in December. Global ETF funds held 3,218.8 tonnes of gold as of December-end.
At 1615 IST, the most-active February GOLD contract on the MCX was up 0.3% at INR 77,990 per 10 grams. The most-active February contract on the COMEX was 0.4% higher at $2,683.50 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 75,000-INR 74,000 strikes for the Jan. 27 contract.
On Wednesday, gold holdings with SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, remained steady for the third day at 871.08 tonnes. The fund has a market value of $74.45 billion. On the National Stock Exchange, the total value of gold ETFs traded on Thursday was INR 1.17 billion, up from INR 979 million on Wednesday.
The trading volume is likely lower as the US markets are closed on Thursday to observe a national day of mourning for former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away last month. However, electronic trading in commodities is open.
SILVER contracts traded higher, taking cues from COMEX, and firm trends in gold and industrial metals. At 1620 IST, the most-active March contract on the MCX was up 0.7% at INR 91,620 per kg. The same-month contract on the COMEX was 0.7% higher at $31.21 per ounce. On the options front, the highest call open interest was at the INR 100,000 strike price. The highest put open interest was at INR 90,000 strike for the Feb. 24 expiry contract.
As of 1620 IST, the February and April gold contracts recorded turnovers of INR 13.40 billion and INR 1.74 billion, respectively, on the MCX. The March and May silver contracts saw turnovers of INR 13.65 billion and INR 1.02 billion, respectively.
The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, rose to 87.94 on Thursday, indicating that gold had outperformed silver. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold. The ratio was at 87.78 on Wednesday.
Outlook for the rest of the session:
--MCX gold seen at INR 77,400–INR 78,100 per 10 gm
--COMEX gold seen at $2,663.30–$2,703.0 an ounce
--MCX silver seen at INR 91,100-INR 92,470 per kg
--COMEX silver seen at $31.04-$31.63 an ounce
End
US$1 = INR 85.85
IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT
Edited by Saji George Titus
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