Precious metals gleam

INTERNATIONAL REVIEW BULLION

Precious metals were on a upward rally as crude prices skirted $66 per barrel and as the dollar edged lower as compared to the euro.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex, benchmark December gold contract rose by $8 to close at $451.60 per ounce from $443.70 continuing the market's recent advance.

The spot London gold fix too closed higher at $ 447.25 (PM) from $438.25(PM). Silver closed higher at $7.50 an ounce from $7.11 last week. In the local market, in the week ended August 12, gold and silver prices rose once again tracking the international prices.

Spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai closed at Rs 6,345.00 per 10 gram from Rs 6,225.00 last week. Spot gold (99.90 purity) closed at Rs 6,380.00 from Rs 6,290.00 the previous week. Spot silver (.999) too gained ground at Rs 10,770.00 from last week's Rs 10, 790.00 per kg.

Futures trading in gold and silver saw better prices and higher volumes in trading across the contracts. On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), The October contract closed at Rs 6,300 from Rs 6,201, with an open interest of 1 kg and no volumes.

Silver contract in August closed at Rs 10,672 from Rs 10,633 last week, with open interest of 93,270 gram and a volume of 43,530 gram. September contract closed at Rs 10,717 from Rs 10,722 with an open interest of 90,270 gram with a volume of 57,510 gram.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India the October contract closed at Rs 6,387 compared with Rs 6,245 with an open interest of 6,117 kg with a volume of 5,707 kg. The December 5 contract closed at Rs 6,434.00 from Rs 6,297.00 with an open interest of 937 kg and a volume of 350 kg.

The September 5 silver contract rose to close at Rs 10,711 from Rs 10,714 last week. The open positions stood at 2,50,950 kg and the volume of contract was 1,86,120 kg. The December contract of silver closed at Rs 10,796.00.