Global slump

DOMESTIC REVIEW/ BULLION

The domestic bullion market ended on a bearish note in line with the international markets. The global bullion trade lost steam after US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan said US would further raise interest rates in a measured fashion to curb inflation.

This lead to liquidation from the US equity markets to the bond markets, causing the dollar to appreciate, said analysts.

In New York, gold dipped sharply with the August futures trading at $390.50 on Friday. London spot on Friday too closed at $391.50.

During the week ended July 24, spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai closed lower from last week's close of Rs 6165.00 at Rs 5995.00 per 10 gram. Spot gold (99.90 purity) fell from Rs 6200.00 to Rs 6025.00.

Spot silver (.999) also ended sharply lower at Rs 10355.00 from last week's Rs 10740.00 per kilogram. On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), the July contract ended on July 20 closed at 6121.30 from Rs 6104.80 amid an open position of 190300 gram. Volumes stood at 223400 gram.

August gold contract witnessed a decline to Rs 5978.85 from Rs 6058.00. The volumes were 74700 gram. Open interest stood at 293800 gram.

The September contract decreased to Rs 5977.60 from Rs 6043.85, with open positions worth 90700 gram and a volume of contract of 21000 gram.

The pure gold (kilo) August contract closed at Rs 5970 on Thursday, from Rs 6080.00 last week, with an open interest of just 39 kg and a volume of 18 kg.

The September contract closed at Rs 5990.00, from the previous week of Rs 5995.00, amid an open interest of 11 kg, and a volume of 1 kg. NCDEX August silver futures closed at Rs 10105.00 with an open interest of 270 kg. The price fell from last week's Rs 10301.

There was no activity on the September silver futures contract which closed at Rs 10280.00 the same as last week, amid an unchanged open interest of 90 kg.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) the August gold contract fell from Rs 6096.00 to Rs 5931, amid an open interest of 800 kg and a volume of contract of 1856 kg.

The October contract picked up momentum with an open interest of 510 kg and a volume of 642 kg traded. The price however fell to Rs 5985.00 from Rs 6085.00. August 13 mini gold on MCX fell to Rs 5982.00 as against previous week's close of Rs 6068.00. The volume of contracts fell from 41 kg to 23 kg, and open interest moved from 71 kg to 54 kg.

The July silver contract closed down at Rs 9346 compared to the previous week's close of Rs 9550.00. The volume of contract fell to 900 kg from 12780 kg, the open interest was 330 kg.

The September silver contract closed lower at Rs 10015.00 on Friday from Rs 10381.00 last week. The open positions stood at 45270 kg and the volume of contract was 100380 kg.

The September contract for mini-silver closed at Rs 10013.00 from Rs 10355.00 last week. The open interest closed at 1100 kg and the volume of contract stood at 1880 kg.