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Informist, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and COMEX because of the recovery in the dollar. Traders opting for profit-taking at a higher price level also weighed on sentiment.

At 1910 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was up 0.3% at 106.67. A stronger dollar makes dollar-denominated precious commodities more expensive for those holding other currencies, dulling demand.

At 1910 IST, the most active April GOLD contract on the MCX was down 0.4% at INR 85,700 per 10 grams. The most active April gold contract on COMEX was down 0.4% at $2,943.0 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 strike for the Feb. 28 contract.

However, the downside in the yellow metal was limited by continued inflows in gold exchange-traded funds. On Thursday, gold holdings with the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, rose 5.74 tonnes to 883.72 tonnes, the third straight of positive inflows. The fund has a market value of $83.29 billion.

Investors will take further cues from the US Flash Manufacturing and Services Purchasing Managers' Index data and the revised University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey due later Friday.

SILVER contracts fell, taking cues from COMEX, and a weak trend in gold and industrial metals. At 1910 IST, the most-active March contract on the MCX was down 0.4% at INR 96,690 per kg. The same-month contract on COMEX was down 0.7% at $33.27 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 down 98 points at 20524 points. The April and June gold contracts on the MCX recorded turnovers of INR 41.47 billion and INR 1.66 billion, respectively. The March and May silver contracts saw a turnover of INR 13.85 billion and INR 5.47 billion, respectively.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, rose to 89.15 on Friday, indicating that gold had outperformed silver. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold. The ratio was 89.01 on Thursday.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 85,135–INR 86,514 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,922.0–$2,972.90 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 95,965-INR 97,200 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $33.10-$33.79 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 86.71

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

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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