Dollar volatility hits markets worldwide

DOMESTIC REVIEW / BULLION

Gold continued to lose value globally and locally as the dollar appreciated against the euro.

Overseas markets saw a sharp decline. On the New York Mercantile Exchange or Comex, the rising dollar hammered gold and the benchmark February gold declined to $419 from $438.40 per troy ounce.

The spot London gold fix closed the week at $422.20 compared with $435.60 (PM) on Friday.

In India, the week ended January 8 saw gold falling all week following the international trend and heavy offloading by stockists.

Spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai closed at Rs 6100 per 10 gram compared with Rs 6300 last week.

Spot gold (99.90 purity) closed at Rs 6145 after last week's Rs 6340 and a week of range-bound trade.

Spot silver (.999) closed higher the week lower at Rs 10635 from last week's Rs 10230 per kilogram.

Futures trading remained robust, with rising open interest but fall in volumes traded in the week.

National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) January gold declined to Rs 6146 from Rs 6323, with open positions worth 677200 gram and a volume of contract of 55500 gram.

The February gold closed lower at Rs 6183 compared with last week's close of Rs 6324. Open interest and volume were at 386900 gram and 32900 gram respectively.

NCDEX January silver closed at Rs 9908 compared with Rs 10334 last week with open interest at 118900 kilogram and volume of contract at 13200kg.

February closed at Rs 10021 from Rs 10392 last week, with open interest of 86130 and a volume of 8500.

Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) February contract closed at Rs 6137 from Rs 6302 with open interest of 5223 kg and volume of 1544 kg.

The April contract closed from last week's Rs 6314 at Rs 6159 with open interest of 172kg and a volume of 36kg.

The June contract closed at Rs 6217 compared with last week's Rs 6358 with open interest at 12 kg. February Gold HNI (high net worth individuals) contract closed at Rs 6190 from last week's Rs 6292 with open interest and volume of 6 kg each.

HNI Silver March closed at Rs 9538 from Rs 9877 last week, with open interest of 3150 kg and no trades. The March 4 silver contract rose to close at Rs 10004 from Rs 10372 last week with open position at 316740 kg and volume of contract at 65730 kg.

The May contract traded at Rs 10054 from the previous week's close Rs 10430, with 3960 kg positions open and volume at 60 kg.

The July contract of silver closed at Rs 10073 up from Rs 10473 last week with an open interest of 540 kg.