More Stories

Informist, Wednesday, May 13, 2026

 

By Afra Abubacker

 

NEW DELHI – Futures contracts of gold and silver rose sharply on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India, as traders factored in the hike in import duty on the bullion to 15% from 6%. Further, the Indian rupee weakened to a record low against the dollar Wednesday, making bullion imports costlier and supporting domestic prices.

 

At 1935 IST, the most-active June contract of GOLD was up 5.6% at INR 161,984 per 10 grams on the MCX. The same-month contract on the COMEX was largely flat at $4,688 per ounce. The most-active July SILVER contract on the MCX was up 7.1% at INR 298,916 per kilogram, and the same-month contract on the COMEX was up 2.8% at $88.03 per ounce.

 

Late Tuesday, the government increased import duties on gold and silver to 15% from 6% to dissuade people from non-essential gold purchases and save foreign exchange. However, the rupee hit a fresh record low of 95.80 against the dollar and closed at 95.7050 on Wednesday due to persistent dollar purchases to finance imports, particularly crude oil. 

 

"Domestic bullion markets witnessed an exceptional rally as gold and silver prices surged sharply following heightened geopolitical tensions and continued weakness in the Indian rupee," Kedia Advisory said in a note. A weaker domestic currency increases the landed cost of imported precious metals, thereby supporting local prices.

 

"Another important factor supporting bullion was the recent import duty adjustment. Market experts believe the revised duty structure may still leave room for an additional 2.5% to 3% upside in gold prices in the near term," the brokerage added. 

 

Domestic bullion prices rose despite relatively stable international bullion prices, Kedia Advisory said, adding that continued weakness in the rupee had mainly triggered the rally. Gold prices on COMEX were largely flat as stronger-than-expected US inflation data and stalled US-Iran talks clouded the outlook. 

 

The US consumer price index increased 0.6% in April after surging 0.9% in March, according to data released by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the US CPI rising 0.6%. In the 12 months through April, the CPI advanced 3.8%, the biggest on-year increase since May 2023, and followed a 3.3% rise in March. Economists had forecast a rise of 3.7%.

 

"Markets now price in more than a 40% probability of a Fed rate hike by year-end, driving US bond yields higher and weighing on non-yielding gold," Dow Jones quoted Soojin Kim from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. "Despite the pressure from rising rates and elevated energy-driven inflation, gold has remained relatively resilient due to strong demand from central banks," Kim added.  End

 

US$1 = INR 95.70

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

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2026. All rights reserved.