Gold tops Rs 31,000 on global cues

Spot gold in London was trading lower by 0.3% at $1,293/oz after hitting the high of $1,306

After hitting Rs 31,000 for 10g in early trade, gold bounced back towards closing on Thursday following global move where profit booking hit the sentiment. In Zaveri Bazaar here, Standard gold closed at Rs 30,475 for 10g – a marginal decline of Rs 70 from the previous close of Rs 30,545. Pure gold followed suit and closed with similar decline at Rs 30,625 for 10g.

Gold price in the domestic spot market followed similar move in the world market. Spot gold in London was trading lower by 0.3 per cent at $1,293 an ounce after hitting a high of $1,306 on Thursday. The yellow metal, however, stayed near $1,300 an ounce as safe-haven buying limited downside as the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe involving Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton intensified. Also, Federal Reserve policy makers left interest rates unchanged, but reinforced expectations for a hike next month.

“There was little activity in the spot market as consumers stayed away from fresh buying due to huge volatility. Only need-based buying was witnessed as traders abstained from new orders amid expectation of further fall,” said Kumar Jain, director, Umedmal Tilokichand Zaveri, a bullion dealer and jewellery retailer in Zaveri Bazaar.

Gold price for near-month delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange was trading 1.1 per cent lower at Rs 30,330 for 10g.

“The mounting anxiety over the elections after the renewal of the FBI probe into Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's emails has left investors favouring gold and other safer assets over riskier ones like stocks. We expect gold prices to trade higher today,” said Prathamesh Mallya, chief analyst (non-agro commodities & currency) at Angel Commodities Broking.

Silver followed suit and closed with a decline of Rs 650 at Rs 43,730 a kg on Thursday against Rs 44,380 a kg the previous day.

Meanwhile, copper prices on the London Metal Exchange were trading higher by 0.4 per cent on Thursday at $4,926.5 a tonne. Copper strengthened following favourable services primary manufacturing index (PMI) data from China. Also, decline in LME stocks by 2.6 per cent is acting as a positive factor.

Meanwhile, WTI oil prices are trading flat at $45.3 a barrel, while MCX oil prices are trading higher by 0.9 per cent at Rs 3,053 a barrel. Crude oil prices steadied after a sharp fall on Wednesday following an Energy Information Administration (EIA) report. It had reported that US crude oil inventories came in at 14.42 million, significantly above the forecast at 1.1013 million. Earlier, the American Petroleum Institute had said crude stockpiles rose by 9.3 million barrels in the week to October 28, nine times the expectations.