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Informist, Thursday, Mar. 6, 2025

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Gold futures contracts on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and COMEX were down on profit-taking Thursday as investors remained cautious ahead of the US non-farm payrolls data Friday. Analysts polled by Dow Jones estimated the payrolls to rise to 170,000 in February from 143,000 in January. Traders chose to sit on cash and were unlikely to take an aggressive position ahead of the jobs data and US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech Friday.

On Wednesday, GOLD holdings with the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, fell by 1.44 tonnes to 900.36 tonnes. The fund has a market value of $84.30 billion. On the National Stock Exchange, the total value of gold ETFs traded Thursday was INR 1.72 billion, up from INR 3.73 billion Wednesday.

At 1810 IST, the most active April gold contract on the MCX was down 0.2% at INR 85,645 per 10 grams. The most active April gold contract on COMEX was down 0.5% at $2,910.20 per ounce. The highest call open interest was at INR 90,000 strike price, indicating a bullish view. The highest put open interest was at INR 85,000-INR 84,000 strikes for the Mar. 26 contract.

However, the downside in the yellow metal was cushioned by a weaker dollar, which makes commodities priced in the greenback cheaper for holders of other currencies. At 1810 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, was down 0.2% at 104.11.

SILVER contracts were steady, despite weak cues from COMEX, as weakness in gold was offset by strength in industrial metals. At 1810 IST, the most-active May contract on the MCX was steady at INR 97,580 per kg. The same-month contract on COMEX was down 0.5% at $32.96 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 95,000-INR 90,000 strikes for the Apr. 24 expiry contract.

The April and June gold contracts on the MCX recorded turnovers of INR 34.22 billion and INR 6.61 billion, respectively. The May and July silver contracts saw turnovers of INR 15.66 billion and INR 717.33 million, respectively.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as the Mint ratio, fell to 89.60 on Thursday, indicating that silver had outperformed gold. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold. The ratio was 90.40 on Wednesday.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 85,291–INR 86,010 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,900.53–$2,947.83 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 97,070-INR 98,190 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $32.80-$33.44 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 87.11

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

Edited by Rajeev Pai

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