NEW DELHI: Gold prices were trading higher on Friday, but were set for a third weekly fall, weighed down by hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve officials.
The central bank hinted that it could end its pandemic-era asset purchases and raise interest rates faster than expected to combat surging inflation. Reduced stimulus and interest rate hikes tend to push government bond yields up, raising the opportunity cost of non-interest bearing gold.
Gold futures on MCX were up 0.47 per cent or Rs 224 at Rs 47,625 per 10 grams. Silver futures inched up 0.11 per cent or Rs 67 at Rs 61,190 per kg.
Ravi Singh, Vice President & Head of Research, ShareIndia said gold is now trading on mixed fundamentals of fear of new variant Omicron and early bond tapering by US Fed along with interest rate hike on cards. “Despite Omicron uncertainty, the ETF holdings are in downfall. Gold may remain under pressure for a few more trading sessions,” he added.
Physical gold demand picked up in major Asian hubs recently, with dealers in India preparing for a likely spurt in buying as the wedding season gathers pace.
In the spot market, the highest purity gold was sold at Rs 47,601 per 10 grams while silver was priced at Rs 60,789 per kg on Thursday, according to the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association.
The spot price of gold has declined about Rs 1,650 per 10 grams in the last two weeks, whereas silver has declined about Rs 5,700 per kg during the period under review.
Trading strategy
“We expect gold prices to trade sideways to down for the day with COMEX Spot gold support at $1,750 and resistance at $1,790 per ounce. MCX Gold February support lies at Rs 47,100 and resistance at Rs 47,800 per 10 gram,” said Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities.
Global markets
Spot gold rose 0.1 per cent to $1,771.04 per ounce by 0056 GMT after hitting its lowest in nearly a month on Thursday. The metal has declined 1.3 per cent so far in the week. US gold futures gained 0.5 per cent to $1,770.90.
Spot silver rose 0.1 per cent to $22.40 an ounce. Platinum fell 0.3 per cent to $934.99, while palladium increased 0.1 per cent to $1,784.09.