Gold prices fall to Rs 52,319 per 10 gram, silver slides to Rs 66,153 a kg

Gold prices fell for the second consecutive day to Rs 52,319 per 10 gram in line with the sell-off in international prices of the yellow metal while silver prices further dropped to Rs 66,153 per kg, according to Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association. 

Gold jewellery prices vary across India, the second-largest consumer of the metal, due to excise duty, state taxes, and making charges.

In New Delhi, prices of 22-carat gold plunged sharply to Rs 51,200 from Rs 51,850 per 10 gram in the previous trade while price of 24-carat was at Rs 55,850, down by over Rs 700. In Chennai, the rate for 22-carat dropped to Rs 50,840 while for 24-carat it was Rs 55,460. In Mumbai, 10 gram 22-carat was retailing lower at Rs 50,990, according to Good Returns website.

On MCX, gold futures for October slid for the second day in a row by 1.07% to Rs 52,061 while silver futures for September was down by 0.36% at Rs 67,719 from 68,129 in the previous trade. 

Multi Commodity Exchange of India in a notification has said it will launch a liquidity enhancement scheme in the newly launched segment 'options on goods' with gold mini contract.

The liquidity enhancement scheme, popularly known as market making, will start from September 1, MCX said in a circular.

According to the circular, the exchange, based on a competitive bidding process, will appoint the lowest (qualified) bidder in terms of 'bid incentive amount' as a single designated market maker for the product till the scheme remains in force. The maximum incentive bid amount is Rs 40 lakh per month. 

In the international market, gold recovered on Thursday from an over 3% slide in the last session, after US jobless claims unexpectedly topped one million again and the Federal Reserve minutes reiterated concerns over economic recovery.

Spot gold rose 0.4% to $1,937.13 per ounce. US gold futures fell 1.3% to $1,944.20.

"The Fed minutes reiterated the need for people to own gold, they were still concerned about the coronavirus and its impact on the economy, that shows they want to stay accommodative and help consumers stay afloat," said Michael Matousek, head trader at US Global Investors.

Minutes from the US central bank's last policy meeting showed policymakers were concerned the economy faced a highly uncertain path and more monetary support may be needed, although they downplayed the need for yield caps and targets.

An unexpected rise in US jobless claims to above 1 million last week and weaker US equities was also helping gold, analysts said.

The dollar index at near one-week high, however capped gold's gains, making the non-yielding bullion expensive for holders of other currencies.

"The main fundamentals behind gold have not changed," said Edward Meir, an analyst at ED & F Man Capital Markets.

"Stimulus is still coming in and it's very pre-mature to say we're recovering globally and should see higher rates and stronger dollar; we are many months away from that."