Dollar strength hits demand

DOMESTIC REVIEW/ BULLION

The positive jobs data announced by the USA on Friday caused the dollar to appreciate, depressing demand and prices for gold in New York.

Trade remained subdued in local markets as well. Globally, fresh selling pressure was witnessed at the end of the week. The December futures contract on the Comex in New York traded lower from last week at $401.15. The London gold fix dipped from the previous week as well, to close at $402.50 (PM).

In the domestic market, during the week ended September 4, spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai closed lower from last week's close of Rs 6185 at Rs 6150 per 10 gram. Spot gold (99.90 purity) fell from Rs 6220 to Rs 6185. Spot silver (.999) eased from last week's close of Rs 10800 to end at Rs 10795 per kilogram.

The futures market saw a spike in open interest in bullion in the past week. On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), the September gold contract ended on Friday at Rs 6155.15 from Rs 6126.20 last week with 46300 gram being traded, and open interest at 438800 gram. The October contract increased to Rs 6151 from Rs 6125, with open positions worth 129300 gram and volume of contract at 19600 gram.

The November contract closed higher at Rs 6147 against last week's close of Rs 6126, with an open interest and volume of 25900 gram and 1200 gram respectively. The pure gold (kilo) September contract ended at Rs 6151 from Rs 6103 last week, with an open interest of 17 kg and a volume of 16 kg.

The October contract closed at Rs 6146, from the previous week of Rs 6144, amid an open interest of 9 kg, and a volume of 15 kg.

NCDEX September silver futures closed at Rs 10645.60 with an open interest of 41145. The price rose from last week's Rs 10496.80. The October contract closed at Rs 10638 compared with Rs 10501 last week.

The open interest closed at 11870 kilogram while the volume of contract stood at 645kg. The November silver contract closed at Rs 10623 from Rs 10504 last week, with an open interest of 2300 and volume of 280.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) the October gold contract rose from Rs 6142 on Monday to Rs 6146, amid an open interest of 1862 kg and a volume of contract of 1330 kg.

The September silver contract closed higher at Rs 10658 on Friday from Rs 10449 last week. The open positions stood at 630 kg and the volume of contract was 1140 kg.

The December 3 silver contract closed higher again at Rs 10604 on Friday from Rs 10457 last week. The open positions stood at 71190 kg and volume of contract was 62040 kg.