Commodity – Ramesh Gohil
Minutes of the US Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting released last week indicated that most policymakers agreed on a modest rate hike, with a decision on rate hikes dependent on upcoming economic data. However, the Federal Reserve is likely to maintain an aggressive approach to interest rate hikes as the number of jobless claimants fell last week and the Personal Consumption Expenditure figure was raised to 3.7 percent from an earlier estimate of 3.2 percent. With such a possibility becoming strong, there was a downward trend in the price of gold during the week with the strength of the dollar index. Thus, the dovish global report pushed gold prices lower domestically as well, but the decline in global prices was limited due to rising gold import arrears as the rupee weakened against the dollar.
According to the statistics of India Bullion and Jewelers Association, the spot price of 10 grams of gold at the beginning of last week will be Rs. 56,175 as against Rs. 56,587 during the week after opening at Rs. 56,601 and as low as Rs. 55,957 range and finally on a weekly basis Rs. 218 or a decrease of 0.38 percent to a weekly low of Rs. It closed at the level of 55,957. Mukesh Kothari, director of Riddisiddi Bullion said that the overall downward trend in the prices has led to the withdrawal of jewellers, stockists and investors who are waiting for the correction. 58,847 against which it has now decreased to Rs. 55,650 was the way to open demand.
The country’s gold imports are likely to exceed 30 tonnes in February as many banks have started buying gold as domestic demand has eased overall, a dealer said. were staying In addition, last week, with officials saying that the Kovid-19 epidemic has ended in China, the world’s leading consumer of gold, gold prices also fell to a two-month low during the week and there was strong demand. Additionally, government purchases are also being supported as the People’s Bank of China is decentralizing its reserves in addition to investors’ demand for safety due to global geopolitical tensions, analysts said.
Gold prices came under pressure while the dollar index remained strong as fears of an aggressive approach to raising interest rates by the Federal Reserve rose due to an unexpected sharp drop in the number of people receiving unemployment benefits in the US, as well as an increase in personal spending. However, dollar strength remained limited as fourth quarter GDP growth fell short of market expectations, analysts at SMC Investments & Advisors said, adding that the latest US economic data is strengthening the possibility of an aggressive approach to federal interest rate hikes, with gold prices on the Comex section at $1,780 an ounce next week. can decrease up to, while in the local gold online futures, the price range during the week is Rs. 10 per gram. 52,600 to Rs. 56,700 cannot be ruled out. Spot gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down 0.6 percent from the previous close at 1,810 an ounce, with the dollar index rising to a seven-week high on fears of an expected hawkish approach by the Fed before the end of last week, with US Treasury yields also trending upward for a fifth straight week. 89 dollars and futures were quoting around 1817.70 dollars an ounce with a fall of 0.5 percent. Now investors’ eyes are fixed on the US durable goods data and manufacturing activity data to be released next week. However, both these data are expected to be encouraging, indicating that the US economy is not weakening and will raise concerns about rising inflation again, said Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA, adding that the US economic data strengthened in the dollar index and US Treasury yields. The possibility that gold prices will come under further pressure cannot be ruled out due to the increase.
