Informist, Thursday, Apr 20, 2023

By Sandeep Sinha

MUMBAI – Futures contracts of gold rose on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India and the COMEX today because of the safe-haven appeal of the yellow metal, fresh inflows in exchange-traded funds, and a weak dollar.

A weak greenback makes commodities priced in dollars cheaper for holders of other currencies, boosting demand for precious metals.

The yellow metal consolidated in a narrow range as traders assessed the prospect of Federal Reserve’s rate hike decision.

The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was down 0.1% at 101.80.

"Gold prices advanced as demand for safe haven increased after the US Fed Beige book outlined that the US economy stalled in recent weeks, with hiring and inflation slowing and access to credit narrowing," said Raj Deepak Singh, derivative head at ICICI Securities.

Gold holdings with SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose by 0.87 tn to 926.57 tn. The fund has a market value of $59.28 bln.

The spot gold-silver ratio, also known as Mint Ratio, was higher at 78.98 to 1, which indicates that gold has outperformed silver. The ratio measures the ounces of silver required to buy an ounce of gold.
 

MCX Bulldex, an index tracking the real-time performance of gold and silver futures on the MCX, was up 85 points, or 0.5%, at 16560 as of 1845 IST.
 
As of 1845 IST, the June and August gold contracts recorded turnovers of 25.51 bln rupees and 2.21 bln rupees, respectively. At the same time, the May and July silver contracts saw a turnover of 25.46 bln rupees and 3.55 bln rupees, respectively.
 
 * At 1845 IST, the most-active contracts of bullion were:
 --June gold was up 0.4% at 60,540 rupees per 10 gm on MCX
 --June gold was up 0.5% at $2,017.30 an ounce on COMEX
 --May silver was up 0.3% at 75,740 rupees per kg on MCX
 –-May silver was up 0.4% at $25.48 an ounce on COMEX
 
 * Outlook for the rest of the session:
 --MCX gold seen at 60,050–60,920 rupees per 10 gm
 --COMEX gold seen at $1,990–$2,025 an ounce
 --MCX silver seen at 75,490-76,520 rupees per kg
 --COMEX silver seen at $25.18-$25.74 an ounce

End

US$1 = 82.14 rupees

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

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

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