Gold Futures traded in negative territory after opening flat on Wednesday as markets started recovering from Omicron fears. MCX Gold Futures for the most active February contract was last quoted at ₹47,707 per 10 grams, down ₹98 from the previous close of ₹47,805.

Silver opened positive with marginal gains. MCX Silver December Futures was up 0.1 per cent at ₹61,701 on Wednesday.

International gold below $1800

International gold inched lower to breach the important psychological level of $1,800. CME Gold December Futures last quoted at $1,778 an oz (oz is equal to approx 28.3 grams) during early trade on Wednesday. On November 30, Gold Futures hit an intra-day low of $1,768.7, its lowest level since November 4 at $1,769.3.

CME Silver also tracked the overall weakness in the bullion space. Silver Futures settled at $22.765 an oz on Tuesday.

Concerns over the Omicron variant appeared waning and increased buying in the equities diverted the investments from the safe haven assets to the riskier assets.

MCX Gold erases monthly gains

MCX Gold weakened further erasing the gains made during the month of November. MCX Gold February Futures was last quoted at ₹47,707 on Wednesday, its lowest level since November 4. Gold reversal comes after the yellow metal made sharp advances in the first fortnight of the month to scale up to ₹49,510 on November 17. However, it couldn't sustain the higher levels and made a sustained slide since then.

Silver hit the lowest levels since October 12. On Wednesday, MCX Silver December Futures traded at ₹61,701, up ₹55 from Tuesday's close of ₹61,646.

Spot gold, silver extend weakness

Tracking global gold markets and bullion futures, gold and silver prices in the spot markets in India continued the slide for the third straight day. Gold rates as quoted by India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) stood at ₹48,101 per 10 grams (999 purity) on November 30. The prices have been on a slide since November 26, from the levels of ₹48,466. The buying slowed down primarily because of the buyers' preference to hold the fresh purchases before the prices stabilise at lower levels.

Silver too showed extended weakness on Tuesday as spot silver (999 purity) was quoted at ₹62,055 per kg by IBJA. This is a continued slide from ₹63,612 quoted on November 26.

Outlook

Analysts and market observers maintained that precious metals investors are turning to riskier assets as fears around the negative impact of new variant Omicron started receding. Gold prices are expected to be in the range of ₹47,152-48,826. Amidst persistent concerns over the Omicron variant with expectations of higher US interest rates, silver prices are expected to remain in the range of ₹61,266-63,930.

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