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After hitting eight-month high on Thursday, gold futures softened on Friday opening on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX).
Buoyed by the global geopolitical factors and inflation concerns, the yellow metal had ended at ₹50,392 per 10 gram on Thursday. The Friday opening was weak at ₹50,224, lower by ₹168 over previous close.
The Russia-Ukraine military conflict continued to prevail, while adding to the uncertainty is the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike move. Analysts fear a lower-than-expected rake hike from the apex bank leaving lesser room to contain inflation.
Comex Gold shot up by $34 intra-day during Thursday trades to settle at $1904 an oz - highest since June 2021. Friday saw some cooling-off as Comex gold futures opened at $1901.4.
Comex Gold
CME Gold April Futures opened at $1901.4 an oz (a troy ounce is equal to 31.1 grams) on Friday, off from the 8-month high of $1904 an oz. The yellow metal had ended the session on Thursday at $1902.
CME Gold futures saw highest volumes on Thursday at 251,680 lots, highest for the April contract so far. The prices jumped intra-day from the lows of $1869.7 to hit a high of $1904, making a volatile session having intra-day movement of $34. Investors rushed for gold after prevailing uncertainty over geopolitical tension in the Eastern Europe.
Comex Silver opened at $23.855 an oz on Friday, little changed from previous close of $23.875 for CME March contract. Silver failed to match the buoyancy in gold and remained range-bound after slipping from the recent high of $24.015 recorded earlier in the week.
MCX Gold
MCX Gold Futures made weak opening but sustained the ₹50,000-level on Friday. The most active April contract had ended with a robust gains at ₹50,392 per 10 gram on Thursday amidst global rally. The current levels were last seen in June 2021 after the second Covid-19 wave in India.
On Friday, the most active April contract quoted at ₹50,166 per 10 gram at 10.07 a.m. down 0.45 per cent or ₹226 from previous close. The open interest for April contract was at 11,792 lots.
MCX Silver Futures tracked overall weakness in the yellow metal. After nearly flat opening, silver lost further ground to hit initial lows for the day.
The March contract last quoted at ₹63,724 a kg at 10.08 a.m., down ₹137 or 0.21 per cent from previous close of ₹63,861. The open interest was recorded at 6923 lots in the early trades.
Spot gold
Spot gold crossed ₹50,000 on Thursday tracking overall bullish sentiment in the futures markets in India and abroad. The retail spot gold was quoted at ₹50,109 per 10 gram of 999 purity fine gold as quoted by India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) for afternoon rates.
Spot Silver too inched up on Thursday and quoted at ₹63,785 a kg, according to IBJA.
Analysts speak
Analysts globally fear Russia-Ukraine crisis to linger over for some more time even as the US and Russian diplomats are likely to hold talks over the military action. Further there is little room for the US Federal Reserve to hike interest rates to contain inflation, which has hit 40-year high.
Amid uncertainty, MCX Gold Futures is expected to hover between ₹49000-51000 on Friday, while silver range is expected to be ₹62500-64700.
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