Gold declines Rs 450 to Rs 79,550 per 10 grams; silver plunges Rs 600

NEW DELHI: Gold prices declined by Rs 450 to Rs 79,550 per 10 grams in the national capital on Monday amid weak trends in the international markets, according to the All India Sarafa Association.

On Friday, the yellow metal had settled at Rs 80,000 per 10 grams.

Silver also plunged Rs 600 to Rs 94,000 per kg on Monday against the previous close of Rs 94,600 per kg.

Price of gold of 99.5 per cent purity fell Rs 450 to Rs 79,150 per 10 grams. The precious metal had closed at Rs 79,600 per 10 grams on Friday.

Meanwhile, in futures trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold contracts for December delivery slumped Rs 460 or 0.6 per cent to trade at Rs 76,812 per 10 grams.

"Gold prices are trading lower, with Comex down, slipping from Friday's close of USD 2,685 as the strengthening dollar index exerts pressure on the yellow metal.

"The rise in US bond prices following Trump's election victory is contributing to the corrective trend in bullion," Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst - Commodity and Currency at LKP Securities, said.

Silver contracts for December delivery rose Rs 63 or 0.07 per cent to Rs 91,332 per kg on the exchange.

Globally, Comex gold futures slipped USD 17.80 per ounce or 0.66 per cent to USD 2,677 per ounce.

"Last week, Comex gold prices fell to a one-month low of USD 2,650.30 per ounce, as investor sentiment shifted toward risk assets following Trump's election victory and the Republican Party's successful bid to regain control of the US Senate," Kaynat Chainwala, AVP-Commodity Research at Kotak Securities, said.

Gold briefly rebounded above USD 2,700 after the Fed's widely anticipated 25-basis point rate cut. However, a stronger dollar and rising Treasury yields kept gold under pressure, and it closed the week down 2 per cent at USD 2,694.80 per ounce, Chainwala added.

According to Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst - Commodities at HDFC Securities, gold resumed trading on a lower note due to a number of bearish factors, such as the strength of the US dollar, bets on less aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, and elevated US bond yields.

However, Comex silver futures increased 0.23 per cent to USD 31.52 per ounce in the Asian market hours.

According to commodities experts, last week, US President-elect Donald Trump pledged a 10 per cent tariff on all US imports and is expected to trigger a resurgence in inflation and restrict the US Federal Reserve's (Fed) ability to ease aggressively in the near future.

This, in turn, remains supportive of elevated US Treasury bond yields and contributes to driving flows away from the yellow metal, they said.