Dull week

MARKET REVIEW/ DOMESTIC-BULLION

Gold and silver markets were lacklustre this week. Gold declined moderately under additional selling towards the weekend and silver ended slightly higher.

Prices in the international market closed slightly higher. The dollar weakened against other currencies with the rising crude prices.

Spot London gold fix rose from last week's $401.35 (PM) to close at $405.70 on Friday. The benchmark December futures contract on the Comex in New York traded higher and closed at $407.90 on Friday. The domestic market remained closed on Saturday for 'Ganesh Chaturthi'.

During the week ended September 18, spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai eased from Rs 6145 at Rs 6135 on Friday per 10 gram. Spot gold (99.90 purity) slid to Rs 6170 on Friday from last week's Rs 6185.

Spot silver (.999) rose from Rs 10350 to Rs 10355 per kilogram. Futures markets were subdued and prices were flat. National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) September gold ended Friday at Rs 6106.70 from Rs 6106.75 last week.

The volumes were 40400 gram. Open interest stood at 325000 gram. The October contract firmed to Rs 6129 from Rs 6118, with open positions worth 254400 gram and a volume of contract of 18900 gram.

The November contract rose to Rs 6131 from Rs 6107, with an open interest and volume of 57300 gram and 3200 gram respectively. Pure gold (kilo) September contract ended at Rs 6130 from Rs 6125 last week, with an open interest of 10 kg. The October contract closed at Rs 6080, unchanged, with open interest of 4 kg throughout the week.

NCDEX September silver futures closed at Rs 9971.10 with an open interest of 47005.

The October contract closed at Rs 10097 compared with Rs 10070 last week. The open interest closed at 65015 kilogram while the volume of contract stood at 5730.

The November silver contract closed at Rs 10125 from Rs 10078 last week, with an open interest of 11750 and volume of 1220. Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) October gold contract rose from Rs 6084 on Monday to Rs 6108, amid an open interest of 1351 kg and a volume of contract of 583 kg.

The December 3 contract closed at Rs 6116 from Rs 6094 last week with an open interest of 561 kg and a volume of contract for 80 kg. The September silver contract slid to Rs 10032 from Rs 10130 last week.

The contract ended on the 14th, and open positions and volumes at the time stood at 90 kg.The December 3 silver contract rose to Rs 10066 on Friday from Rs 9974 last week with open positions at 146490 kg and volume at 35310 kg.