Gold loses sheen as crude oil prices decline

REVIEW/BULLION

The drop in crude oil prices and the stronger dollar have weakened the interest of funds and investors away from gold, both in international and local markets.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex, benchmark August delivery gold futures ended the week $2.50 lower to close at $421.30 per troy ounce. The spot London gold fix too closed lower at $418.35 (PM). September silver fell 0.5 cent to close at $6.99 an ounce, down 4 cents from last Friday.

In the local markets, during the week ended July 16 gold and silver prices declined. Spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai closed at Rs 5,995.00 per 10 g from Rs 6,050.00 last week. Spot gold (99.90 purity) closed at Rs 6,025.00 from Rs 6,085.00 the previous week. Spot silver (.999) too lost considerable ground at Rs 10,610.00 from last week's Rs 10,655.00 per kg.

Futures trading in gold and silver saw subdued trading with prices dropping across the contracts. On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), the August gold contract at Rs 6,075.00 from Rs 6,150.00 with an open interest of 1kg.

Silver contract in July closed at Rs 10,465.00 from Rs 10,521.00 last week, with open interest of 1,32,510 g and a volume of 16,200 g. August contract closed at Rs 10,592.00 from Rs 10,611.00 with an open interest of 42,960 g with a volume of 7,290 g.

The August contract closed at Rs 10,777.00 from Rs 10,789.00 with an open interest of 50,670 g and a volume of 12,930 g.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), the August contract closed at Rs 6013.00 from Rs 6,085.00 with open interest of 9,669 kg and a volume of 2,665 kg.

The October contract closed at Rs 6,106.00 compared with Rs 6,158.00 with an open interest of 1,356 kg compared with 478 last week. Volume stood at 138 kg.

The July gold high networth individuals (HNI) contract closed at Rs 5,857.00 from Friday's 5,921.00, with an open interest of 15 kg. HNI silver August closed at Rs 9,790.00 from Rs 9,861.00 last week with an open interest of 7,650 kg and no volumes.

The September 5 silver contract fell to close at Rs 10,526.00 from Rs 10,542.00 last week. The open positions stood at 3,96,420 kg and the volume of contract was 7,11,307 kg. The December contract of silver closed at Rs 10,615.00 down from Rs 10,625.00 last week with an open interest of 20,850 kg and a volume of 1,470 kg.