Markets trade within range

DOMESTIC REVIEW/ Bullion

Prices of gold both globally and locally remained range-bound during the week, as did currency markets, with the dollar remaining within a band against the euro.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold prices dipped and benchmark February declined to $425.50 per troy ounce from last Friday's $426.90.

The spot London gold fix closed the week at $426.80 from $423.30 (PM) last week.

Trading will be influenced by interest rates in the US, which are to be decided at the Federal Open Market Committee meeting scheduled for February 1 and 2, as US rates are widely expected to go up by 25 basis points ahead of the G-7 meeting.

Technical analysts said gold could fall further in February and could stay bearish till April, bottoming out at $405 per troy ounce.

In India, the week ended January 29 saw gold trading unchanged.

Spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai closed at Rs 6165 per 10 gram, unchanged. Spot gold (99.90 purity) traded at Rs 6200 from last week's Rs 6205.00. Spot silver (.999) slipped to Rs 10550 from last week's Rs 10570 per kilogram.

Futures trading remained healthy with volumes rising but lower open interest from the week before.

National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) February gold closed lower at Rs 6166 from last week's close of Rs 6147. Open interest and volume were at 653100 gram and 69300 gram respectively.

March gold contract closed at Rs 6195 from Rs 6176 with an open interest and volume of 269100 gram and 11300 gram respectively.

NCDEX January silver closed at Rs 10273 from Rs 10125 last week, with open interest at 98940 kg. The March contract closed at Rs 10329 from Rs 10338 last week.

Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) February contract closed at Rs 6120 from Rs 6102 with open interest of 4062 kg, and volume of 811 kg.

April closed unchanged at Rs 6164 with open interest of 1438 kg and a volume of 396 kg.

The June contract closed at Rs 6181 from last week's Rs 6174 along with an open interest of 23 kg. February Gold HNI (high net worth individuals) contract closed at Rs 6117 from last week's Rs 6118 with open interest and volume at 6kg and 9kg each.

HNI March silver was unchanged at Rs 9834, with open interest of 3150 kg and 2100 kg of volumes traded.

March 4 silver contract rose to Rs 10279 from Rs 10137 last week. The open position stood at 274800kg and the volume of contract was 52890 kg.

The May contract traded at Rs 10327 from previous week's Rs 10177, with 6060kg positions open, and volume of 360kg.

The July contract of silver closed at Rs 10352 up from Rs 10327 last week with open interest of 450 kg and volume of 30kg.