Gold Futures opened flat closer to the peak levels of ₹52,000 on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) Wednesday. The April contract opened little changed at ₹51,790 against previous close of ₹51,816.

Comex gold too made nearly flat opening on Wednesday at $1945.3 against previous settled price of $1943.8. On Tuesday, the yellow metal had rallied about $49 intra-day amidst flight to safe-haven.

As the Russia-Ukraine war entered the sixth day, investors rushed for gold as global risks prevailed.

Comex Gold

CME Gold April Futures opened flat on Wednesday at $1945.3 but slipped during later trades to $ 1939.5 an oz (a troy ounce is equal to 31.1 grams). The yellow metal is off from 1.5-year high of $1,976.50 seen on February 24, when Russian forces invaded Ukraine.

Gold futures has gained $38 in past five trading sessions making it one of the fastest rallies for the yellow metal.

Comex Silver opened above $25 levels tracking the uptrend in yellow metal. The most active CME May Futures traded near 7-month peak at $25.25 an oz on Wednesday against previous close of $25.54 an oz.

MCX Gold

MCX Gold Futures opened at ₹51,790 on Wednesday, extending the previous week's uptrend. The yellow metal had hit an all-time high on Tuesday tracking international movement.

The most active April contract last quoted at ₹51,825 per 10 grams at 10.05 am, up by ₹9 or 0.02 per cent from previous close of ₹51,816. The Open interest for April contract was at 11,340 lots.

MCX Silver March Futures too weakened after rallying to the highest levels since November 2021.

The most active MCX Silver May contract last quoted at ₹67,913 a kg at 10.05 am, down by ₹266 or 0.39 per cent from previous close of ₹68,179. The open interest was recorded at 6,419 lots in the early trades.

Spot gold

Spot Gold softened marginally after international gold retreated from its peak levels. However, the retail gold prices hovered above ₹50,500 per 10 grams amidst heavy volatility in the international prices.

As per last available data, Spot Gold last quoted at ₹50,696 per 10 grams of 999 purity fine gold, quoted by India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) for afternoon rates on Monday. The spot markets were closed on Tuesday following Mahashivratri festivals.

The spot prices are lower from the highs of ₹52,540 per 10 grams reported on February 24.

Analysts speak

Analysts maintained that safe-haven demand will keep gold volatile.

Ravindra Rao, CMT, EPAT, VP- Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities commented, “Gold is rangebound as support from safe-haven buying and inflation concerns amid increased Russia-Ukraine tensions is countered by firmness in US dollar and uncertainty about Fed’s monetary policy stance. Gold has bounced back after a brief correction, however prices are still below recent highs which shows waning confidence.”

"We may see volatility continuing, however, unless there are concrete efforts to dissuade tensions, general bias may be on the upside," he added.

Analysts expect MCX gold prices to move in the range of ₹50,900-52,334 during the day, while MCX Silver prices are likely to hover around ₹65,786-69,646 as uncertainty persists.