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Informist, Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

By Reshma Ravi

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold rose on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX on Tuesday due to buying at lower levels after prices fell in the last four sessions, analysts said. However, gold contracts on the COMEX were steady as market participants now await the US Federal Open Market Committee's meeting decision and its summary of economic projections on Wednesday.

At 1652 IST, the most-active April GOLD contract on the MCX was up 0.3% at INR 156,237 per 10 grams. The most-active April contract on COMEX was steady at $5,002 per ounce. The most-active May SILVER contract on the MCX was down 0.3% at INR 255,888 per kilogram. The corresponding contract on COMEX was down 0.6% at $80.19 per ounce.

Gold prices on the domestic exchange rose due to dip-buying, Nitin Kedia, national general secretary of All India Jewellers & Goldsmith Federation, said. Some short-covering was also there, Kedia added.

However, the gains could be capped due to dampened hope of a rate cut by the US Federal Reserve as higher crude oil prices have renewed concern about inflation, said Manoj Jain, director of Prithvi Finmart, in a note. Crude oil prices rose due to supply concerns, with the Strait of Hormuz largely shut and US allies rejecting calls to send warships to help tankers move through the crucial waterway. "Higher energy and commodity prices could lead global inflation and the global central banks could halt its monetary easing cycles for sometimes," Jain said. 

US President Donald Trump Monday repeated his call to nations ‌to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and complained that some countries were not very enthusiastic about providing help to Washington. "Some are very enthusiastic about it, and some aren't. Some countries that we've helped for many, many years. We've protected them from horrible outside sources, and they weren't that enthusiastic. And the level of enthusiasm matters to me," Trump said at an event at the White House. Several US allies said on Monday they had no immediate plans to send ships to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, rockets and at least five drones were launched at the US embassy in Baghdad ‌early on Tuesday from areas around the city, Reuters reported, citing Iraqi security sources. They described the attack as the most intense since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran. 

Additionally, "This week US central bank is expected to hold its rates steady, whereas focus will also remain on other central banks policy decisions. At the same time, investors will monitor developments from Middle east to get more cues," ICICI Direct said in a report.

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 153,500–INR 158,000 per 10 grams

--COMEX gold seen at $4,960.0–$5,040.0 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 248,000-INR 260,000 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $77.00-$83.00 an ounce

End

US$1 = INR 92.37

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

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

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