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Informist, Monday, Mar. 2, 2026

 

By Reshma Ravi

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold and silver surged on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and COMEX Monday. The outbreak of hostilities in West Asia between Israel and the US on the one hand and Iran on the other spurred safe-haven demand for precious metals, analysts said. Prices on the domestic exchange also rose because the rupee weakened against the dollar.

 

The rupee ended at a one-month low against the dollar Monday, posting its worst single-day fall in nearly six weeks. It closed at 91.4700, down 0.5% against the dollar. When the rupee depreciates against the dollar, prices of gold in the domestic market adjust as the precious metal is priced in rupees. 

 

At 1655 IST, the most-active April GOLD contract on the MCX was up 4% at INR 168,800 per 10 grams. The most-active April contract on COMEX was up 3% at $5,404.3 per ounce. The most-active May SILVER contract on the MCX was up 5% at INR 296,448 per kilogram. The corresponding contract on COMEX was up 2% at $95.45 per ounce.

 

"Prices already spiked following US and Israeli strikes on Iran, which significantly heightened global economic uncertainty," ICICI Direct said in a report. Saturday, the US and Israel launched aerial attacks on Iran, killing the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei. Iran has since retaliated against Israel and targeted US military facilities around the Persian Gulf region.

 

US President Donald Trump has promised to avenge the deaths of three US service members and said the bombing on Iran will continue until "all objectives are achieved". Early Monday, Israel bombed Lebanon's capital Beirut after militant outfit Hezbollah attacked northern Israel, Al Jazeera reported.

 

"Looking ahead, bullion is likely to remain supported as Trump indicated that military operations could extend for 'four to five weeks'," Kaynat Chainwala, assistant vice-president at Kotak Securities, said in a note. The strong rally indicates that a significant portion of the geopolitical premium may already be priced in. A clear move to fresh record highs would probably require a major escalation like, for instance, a confirmed large-scale Iranian attack on US military assets, which could provoke bigger retaliation by the US and trigger another wave of aggressive safe-haven buying, Chainwala said. 

 

Meanwhile, market participants also await US labour data this week, including the ADP employment report, weekly jobless claims, and the non-farm payrolls report.  

 

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 162,000–INR 176,500 per 10 grams

--COMEX gold seen at $5,300.0–$5,500.0 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 278,000-INR 310,000 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $90.00-$100.00 an ounce

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 91.47

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

 

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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