Gold prices today: Yellow metal falls to Rs 46,400 level, silver down by Rs 570

NEW DELHI: Gold and silver futures dipped on Thursday, following global trends after US Federal Reserve signalled easing its monthly bond purchases by next year and a sooner-than-expected interest rate hike.

In its policy statement on Wednesday, the US central bank said it could start paring bond purchases as soon as November and that half of the Fed officials were ready to raise interest rates next year in response to inflation. This could increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding bullion.

Gold futures on MCX fell 0.58 per cent or Rs 271 at Rs 46,401 per 10 gm. Silver futures declined 0.93 per cent or Rs 569 to Rs 60,611 per kg.

“The US Federal Reserve signalled the ending of the bond-buying program in November and possible rate hike by the end of 2022. The dollar index and bond yields were up, pressuring gold prices with higher projections of GDP growth,” said Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities.

In the spot market, highest purity gold was sold at Rs 46,826 while silver was priced at Rs 60,788 on Friday, according to the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association.

Trading strategy
“We expect gold futures to trade sideways to down for the day with COMEX Spot gold support at $1,750 and resistance at $1,775 per ounce. MCX Gold October support lies at Rs 46,100 and resistance at Rs 46,800 per 10 gm,” said Patel.

Global markets
Spot gold was down 0.3 per cent at $1,762.33 per ounce, as of 0122 GMT, while US gold futures slipped 0.9 per cent to $1,762.10.

Russia produced 173.99 tonnes of gold between January and July, down from the 176.30 tonnes it had produced in the same period in 2020, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

Silver fell 0.5 per cent to $22.55 per ounce. Palladium eased 0.1 per cent to $2,020.96, but prices rose 6.2 per cent on Wednesday, its biggest one-day gain since March 2020. Platinum dropped 0.4 per cent to $993.13.