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Informist, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026

 

By Reshma Ravi

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold fell on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX on Monday as traders booked profits after a sharp rally, analysts said. Prices also fell as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has increased margins on precious metals futures.  

 

At 1607 IST, the most-active April GOLD contract on the MCX was down 1% at INR 146,390 per 10 grams. The most-active April contract on COMEX was down 0.6% at $4,714.0 per ounce. 

 

In the Mumbai spot market, the price of gold of 99.9% purity was INR 142,270 per 10 grams, lower than INR 153,013 per 10 grams Friday, said Kumar Jain, spokesperson for the India Bullion and Jewellers Association.

 

Profit booking and a rise in the margins by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange weighed on the precious metals, Ajay Kedia, director, Kedia Advisory, said. Kedia also said he anticipates the price of the precious metals will decline further because of the selling pressure.

 

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange increased the margin requirements for gold and silver futures contracts. For non-heightened risk profiles, gold futures margins have been increased to 8% from the current 6%. For heightened risk profiles, the margins have been raised to 8.8% from the present 6.6%. Silver futures margins for non-heightened risk profiles have been increased to 15% from the current 11%. For heightened risk profiles, the margins have been raised to 16.5% from the present 12.1%.

 

Market participants' sentiment was also hurt after US President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh as the next US Federal Reserve Chair. "... hopes for aggressive interest rate cut by US Federal Reserve started fading after US President Donald Trump named former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh as his choice to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair," ICICI Direct said in a report.

 

"Warsh checks a long list of boxes for Trump as his pick to run the Fed, with longstanding political and social ties to the president, deep Wall Street connections and a well-tailored demeanour. But how deeply and quickly he will cut interest rates and how aggressively he will pursue his "regime change" at the Fed remain open questions," SMC Global Securities said in a report. Typically, higher interest rates dent demand for non-yielding precious metals.

 

On Friday, US producer prices rose the most in five months in December, up 0.5% from 0.2% in November. Economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal forecast a 0.3% rise. "US economic data on Friday showed that producer prices increased by the most in five months in December amid some pass-through from import tariffs, suggesting inflation could pick up in the months ahead and allow the Fed to keep rates steady for a while," SMC said.  

 

Prices also fell due to easing geopolitical risks after signals of potential US–Iran negotiations reduced safe-haven demand, Kedia said. On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said Iran was "seriously talking" with Washington, just hours after Tehran's top security official, Ali Larijani, wrote on social media platform X that preparations for negotiations were in progress, Reuters reported.

 

The silver contract fell on the MCX, however, it rose on the COMEX. At 1610 IST, the most-active March SILVER contract on the MCX was down 8% at INR 245,383 per kilogram. The most-active March contract on COMEX was up 2% at $80.19 per ounce.

 

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 130,000–INR 148,000 per 10 grams

--COMEX gold seen at $4,450.0–$4,880.0 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 180,000-INR 270,000 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $78.00-$85.00 an ounce

End

 

US$1 = INR 91.51

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

 

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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