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Informist, Friday, Oct. 17, 2025

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold and silver on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and COMEX surged to new record highs again Friday, driven by firm safe-haven demand amid tensions between China and the US, expectation of more rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve this year, and strong inflows into global exchange-traded funds. Gold prices are poised for around 8% weekly gain, the best weekly performance in several years.

 

At 1819 IST, the most-active December GOLD contract on the MCX was 2.7% higher at INR 130,700 per 10 grams after touching a record high of INR 132,294 per 10 grams earlier in the day. The most-active December gold contract on COMEX was 0.3% higher at $4,318.1 per ounce, after hitting an all-time high of $4,392 per ounce.

 

"The rally in the precious metals markets continues unabated," Carsten Fritsch, a commodity analyst at Commerzbank, said in a report. "Gold is even set to post its biggest weekly gain since September 2008. The price increase is being driven by strong inflows into ETFs," Fritsch said.

 

US President Donald Trump Thursday said Washington was now locked in a trade war with Beijing, after China announced new restrictions on rare earth exports. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer described China's new export restrictions as a "global supply-chain power grab", and the US and its allies would not accept the restrictions. Trump is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea later this month. China Thursday defended its ongoing purchases of Russian oil. China's Ministry of Commerce accused the US of creating "panic" over Beijing's controls on rare earth exports. 

 

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled the central bank was on track to cut rates later this month. According to CME's FedWatch tool, 99% of traders are pricing in a 25-basis-point rate cut this month and over 94% are pricing in another 25-bp cut in December. "Investors' motives for buying gold and silver are complex. These include expectations of falling US key interest rates, increasing tensions between the US and China, the ongoing US government shutdown, and the unstable political situation in France," Fritsch added.

 

SILVER contracts also surged to record highs on the MCX and the COMEX earlier in the day but fell later. At 1836 IST, the most-active December contract on the domestic exchange was 1.4% lower at INR 165,417 per kilograms. The same-month contract on COMEX was 2.2% lower at $52.18 per ounce.

 

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX Dec gold seen at INR 128,500–INR 131,500 per 10 grams

--COMEX Dec gold seen at $4,250.0-$4,380.0 an ounce

--MCX Dec silver seen at INR 163,000-INR 167,800 per kg

--COMEX Dec silver seen at $51.50-$52.80 an ounce

End

 

US$1 = INR 87.97

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

 

Edited by Subhojit Sarkar

 

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