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Informist, Tuesday, May 12, 2026

 

By Ashutosh Pati

 

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold and silver on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX edged lower Tuesday as fading hopes of a peace deal between the US and Iran pushed up crude oil prices and raised concerns about inflation and higher interest rates. Market participants will now be closely watching the US consumer price index data, due later in the day. 

 

At 1612 IST, the most active June contract of GOLD was down 0.2% at INR 153,295 per 10 grams on the MCX. The same-month contract on the COMEX was down 0.6% at $4,702.2 per ounce. The most active July SILVER contract on the MCX was down 1.3% at INR 274,636 per kilogram, and the same-month contract on COMEX was down 1.8% at $84.36 per ounce.

 

"Market sentiment remains highly uncertain, as any fresh escalation in geopolitical tensions could trigger renewed volatility, while positive developments around a potential US–Iran agreement may continue to support bullion sentiment," Jateen Trivedi, vice president research analyst – commodity and currency at LKP Securities, said in a note.

 

US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran looks difficult to sustain, calling Tehran's response to the US's peace proposal "a piece of garbage." He said Iran was playing games with the world and the US for a long time, and labelled Tehran's response "unserious." Trump said the US-Iran ceasefire was on thin ice, saying the fragile truce was effectively "on life support."

 

However, the fall in prices was limited on the domestic bourse as the rupee fell sharply and ended at a record closing low of 95.6275 on Tuesday. When the rupee depreciates against the dollar, bullion prices in the domestic market adjust as these are priced in rupees.

 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday urged citizens to avoid non-essential gold purchases to reduce India's import bill and save foreign exchange. These comments have led to speculation among market participants about an increase in the import duty. However, the government currently has no plan to raise the import duty on gold and silver to discourage unnecessary imports, Informist reported Monday, citing a government official.

 

"Although India purchased significantly less gold jewellery by tonnes – in the first quarter, this was almost 20?low the previous year's level – gold purchases by value were the highest ever recorded in a first quarter due to high prices," ING analysts said in a report.

 

Outlook for the rest of the session:

--MCX gold seen at INR 151,000–INR 155,000 per 10 grams

--COMEX gold seen at $4,660.0–$4,750.0 an ounce

--MCX silver seen at INR 272,000-INR 280,000 per kg

--COMEX silver seen at $82.00-$87.00 an ounce

 

End

 

US$1 = INR 95.63

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

 

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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