More Stories

Informist, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold rose on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX because of weakness in the dollar and short-covering. The safe haven appeal of the yellow metal also got a boost from concerns over trade war after US President Donald Trump promised reciprocal tariffs.

At 1900 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.2% at 106.84. A weaker greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities cheaper for those holding other currencies, thus improving demand.

"The yellow metal benefited from increased safe-haven demand amid rising trade tensions, particularly after President Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on countries imposing taxes on US imports, fueling inflation concerns. Additionally, weak US retail sales data and growing expectations of a Fed rate cut further supported gold's appeal" Kaynat Chainwala, associate vice-president, commodity research, Kotak Securities said in a note. The ongoing uncertainty surrounding trade and inflation is likely to continue to bolster bullion prices in the near term, she said.

At 1900 IST, the most active April GOLD contract on the MCX was up 0.4% at INR 84,983 per 10 grams. The most active April gold contract on COMEX was up 0.3% at $2,910.30 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, further upside in the precious metal was limited due to continued outflows in gold exchange-traded funds. On Friday, gold holdings with the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, fell by 1.14 tonnes to 863.06 tonnes, the third successive 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 Monday was INR 2.11 billion, up from INR 1.97 billion on Friday.

SILVER prices were steady, despite a few negative cues from COMEX. At 1900 IST, the most active March contract on the MCX was steady at INR 95,550 per kilogram. The same-month contract on the COMEX was down 0.1% at $32.82 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.

The MCX Bulldex, an index that tracks the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was up just 1 point at 20319 points. The April and June gold contracts on the MCX recorded turnovers of INR 32.19 billion and INR 1.72 billion, respectively. The March and May silver contracts saw a turnover of INR 19.42 billion and INR 5.16 billion, respectively.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 84,783–INR 85,579 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,902.73–$2,947.27 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 95,130-INR 96,455 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $32.60-$33.20 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 86.88

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

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.