$ decline lifts bullion

MARKET REVIEW/ Domestic: BULLION

Bullion prices, which had plunged early last week both globally and locally, made a mild recovery towards the end of the week following the decline in the dollar.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange's Comex, the benchmark June gold declined to $426.60 per troy ounce. The spot London gold fix closed the week at $424.60 (PM) last week.

In the local market, during the week ended April 16, gold ended slightly higher than the prices recorded in the previous week.

Spot gold (99.50) purity in Mumbai closed at Rs 6,110 per 10 gm from Rs 6,100 last week, while the 99.90 purity variant rose to Rs 6,145 from Rs 6,135 last week. Spot silver (.999) closed higher as well at Rs 10,650 per kg from last week's Rs 10,645.

Futures trading remained stable with a healthy open interest. Prices, however, continued to decline. On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), April gold closed lower at Rs 6,132 compared with last week's close of Rs 6,175.

Open interest and volume were at 55,420 gm and 56,200 gm, respectively.

The May gold contract closed at Rs 6,172 from Rs 6,200 with an open interest and volume of 587,200 gm and 478,800 gm, respectively.

The June contract closed at Rs 6,202 from Rs 6,226 last week with an open interest and a volume of 119,300 kg, and 24,400 kg each.

Silver contract in April on NCDEX ended at Rs 10,609 per 10 kg compared with Rs 10,727 last week. Open interest stood at 70,390 kg, while the volume was 30,555 contracts.

The May contract closed at Rs 10,665 per 10 kg from Rs 10,768 last week, with open interest of 87,015 kg and a volume of 37,610 contract.

The June contract closed at Rs 10,689 per 10 kg from Rs 10,713 with an open interest of 29,395 kg and a volume of 10,910 contracts.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) the June gold contract closed lower at Rs 6,145 from Rs 6,178 in the week before last, with an open interest of 5,042 kg and a volume of 982 kg.

The August contract closed at Rs 6,190 from Rs 6,209 with open interest of 79 kg and a volume of 22 kg.

The June contract closed at Rs 6,181 compared with last week's Rs 6,174 along with an open interest of 23 kg.

The May Gold HNI (High Net Worth Individuals) contract closed at Rs 5,957 from the week before last's Rs 5,996 with an open interest of 21 kg and no volumes.

HNI Silver March closed at Rs 9,834 from Rs 9,834 last week, with an open interest of 3,150 kg and 2,100 kg of volumes traded.

The May 4 silver contract rose to close at Rs 10,617 from Rs 10,718 last week. The open positions stood at 303,000 kg and the volume of contract was 154,890 kg.

The July contract of silver closed at Rs 10,677 up from Rs 10,755 last week with an open interest of 29,460 kg and a volume of 11,070 kg.