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Informist, Friday, Feb. 28, 2025

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Gold futures contracts fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and COMEX because of profit-taking and weaker safe-haven demand. Outflows from gold exchange-traded funds also hurt sentiment.

The yellow metal's safe-haven appeal was dented by the start of the second round of discussions between the US and Russian officials in Istanbul, Turkey, Thursday. "We see further correction potential, as the previous price increase was driven almost exclusively by stronger demand for gold as a safe haven, and the need for this should now largely be covered," Commerzbank said in a note.

On Thursday, GOLD holdings with the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, fell by 0.86 tonnes to 906.10 tonnes. The fund has a market value of $83.9 billion. On the National Stock Exchange, the total value of gold ETFs traded Friday was INR 3.51 billion, up from INR 3.14 billion Thursday.

The yellow metal is poised for a first weekly loss on COMEX after nine consecutive weeks of gain. So far this week, gold has fallen $71.1 an ounce or 2.4% on COMEX and INR 1,472 per 10 grams or 1.7% on the MCX.

At 1855 IST, the most active April gold contract on the MCX was down 0.8% at INR 84,538 per 10 grams. The most active April gold contract on COMEX was 1% lower at $2,866.50 per ounce. The highest call open interest was at INR 85,000-INR 86,000 strike prices, indicating a bullish view. The highest put open interest was at INR 84,000 strike for the Feb. 28 contract.

SILVER contracts fell, taking cues from COMEX and the weaker trend in gold and industrial metals. At 1855 IST, the most-active May contract on the MCX was down 0.9% at INR 94,700 per kg. The same-month contract on COMEX was down 1.2% at $31.74 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 Apr. 24 expiry contract.

The MCX Bulldex, an index that tracks the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was down 109 points at 20155 points. The April and June gold contracts on the MCX recorded turnovers of INR 52.64 billion and INR 2.75 billion, respectively. The March and May silver contracts saw turnovers of INR 1.55 billion and INR 19.52 billion, respectively.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, rose to 91.78 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 90.51 on Thursday.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 84,374–INR 85,300 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,844.07–$2,900.90 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 94,260-INR 95,700 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $31.55-$32.10 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 87.50

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

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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