More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 18, 2025

By Ashutosh Pati

MUMBAI – Gold futures contracts rose on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX as heightened geopolitical tensions in West Asia and global economic uncertainties boosted the safe-haven appeal. Market sentiment was also lifted because of a weak dollar index, which hovered around a five-month low.

At 1714 IST, the most active April GOLD contract on the MCX was up 0.6% at INR 88,602 per 10 grams, after hitting a fresh lifetime high of INR 88,672 per 10 gm. The most active April gold contract on COMEX was up 0.9% at $3,034.4 per ounce. The contract hit a lifetime high of $3,037.6 per ounce earlier Tuesday.

The Israel-Hamas conflict intensified early Tuesday as Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killing over 400 people, according to various media reports. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump ordered attacks against the Houthis in Yemen over the weekend, after the terrorist group said it would resume attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea near the Yemeni coastline. Trump has warned that he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks by the Houthi group.

"With economic uncertainties mounting, investor appetite for gold as a safe-haven soared. Geopolitical risks also contributed to gold's surge," Kaynat Chainwala, assistant vice president-commodity research at Kotak Securities, said in an emailed note.

At 1715 IST, the dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 103.38, compared with 103.41 on Monday and 103.74 on Friday. The index fell to a low of 103.23 during the day.

Gold purchases by China's central bank continued in February, further supporting prices of the yellow metal. The People's Bank of China added 5 tonnes of gold to its reserves in February, the fourth consecutive month of gold purchase, according to a report by the World Gold Council. Gold reserves with the Chinese central bank climbed to 2,290 tonnes as of the end of February, the highest on record, accounting for 5.9% of the total foreign exchange reserves.

SILVER contracts traded in the green, taking cues from COMEX, and a firm trend in gold. At 1716 IST, the most active May contract on the MCX was up 0.8% at INR 101,303 per kilogram. The same-month contract on the COMEX was 1.3% higher at $34.76 per ounce.

Market participants await the US industrial production data due later in the day for further cues. They will also be closely watching the US Federal Open Market Committee's policy meeting outcome early Thursday for cues on US interest-rate trajectory.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 87,407–INR 89,593 per 10 gm

--COMEX gold seen at $2,973.0–$3,068.2 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 99,268-INR 103,574 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $33.19-$34.96 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 86.57

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

Edited by Saji George Titus

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.