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Informist, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, tracking weakness in contracts on the COMEX, because of weak physical demand in top consumers China and India. The sentiment for precious metals was also hurt by outflows in gold exchange-traded funds.

High gold prices in local currencies have kept Chinese and Indian buyers on the fence. Dealers were seen offering a discount of $30 plus an ounce in the Indian market to attract more customers, jewellers said.

On Thursday, gold holdings with the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, fell by 2.30 tonnes to 864.20 tonnes, the second straight day of outflow. The fund has a market value of $80.99 billion. On the National Stock Exchange, the total value of gold ETFs traded on Friday was INR 1.97 billion, down from INR 2.30 billion on Thursday.

At 1945 IST, the most active April GOLD contract on the MCX was down 0.4% at INR 85,485 per 10 grams. The most active April gold contract on COMEX was down 0.3% at $2,936.70 per ounce. The highest call open interest was at INR 86,000-INR 87,000 strike prices, indicating a bullish view. The highest put open interest was at INR 82,000-INR 80,000 strikes for the Feb. 28 contract.

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 1945 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength in the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.3% at 106.70.

SILVER contracts rose, taking cues from COMEX and a firm trend in industrial metals. At 1948 IST, the most active March contract on the MCX was up 2.2% at INR 97,300 per kilogram. The same-month contract on the COMEX was 3% higher at $33.72 per ounce. On the options front, the highest call open interest was at the INR 100,000-INR 105,000 strike prices. The highest put open interest was at INR 90,000 strike for the Feb. 24 expiry contract.

The MCX Bulldex, an index that tracks the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was up 83 points at 20501 points. The April and June gold contracts on the MCX recorded turnovers of INR 53.66 billion and INR 2.86 billion, respectively. The March and May silver contracts saw a turnover of INR 48.33 billion and INR 1.73 billion, respectively.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, fell to 87.86 on Friday, indicating that gold underperformed silver. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold. The ratio was 90.43 on Thursday.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 85,034–INR 86,317 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,914.27–$2,968.73 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 96,961-INR 98,830 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $33.20-$33.85 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 86.82

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

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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