Markets wilt before the dollar

DOMESTIC REVIEW/ BULLION

The domestic bullion market saw a sharp decline during the week on the back of a rising dollar following the announcement of increase in oil production by the oil producers cartel, OPEC. It ended on a depressed note taking its cue from the international markets.

During the week ended May 4, spot gold (99.50 purity) closed lower from last week's close of Rs 5865 at Rs 5815 per 10 gram. It opened last Monday on a bullish note at Rs 5895 and touched a mid-week high of Rs 5905 on Wednesday before falling. Spot gold (99.90 purity) fell from Rs 5905 to Rs 5860.

Spot silver (.999) slipped to Rs 9400 from last week's Rs 9900 per kilogram.

On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), the June contract rose to Rs 5742.25 from previous week's closing of Rs 5781.15 amid an open position of 385900. Volumes fell to 55700 gram. July gold contract gained to touch Rs 5774.25 from Rs 5797.60. The volumes were 9300 gram. Open interest stood at 94400 gram.

The pure gold (kilo) June contract closed at Rs 5745 from Rs 5778, with open interest of just 256 kg and a volume of 4 kg.

NCDEX June silver futures volumes fell from 7540 kg to 6080 kg while open interest increased from 14,225 kg to 18810 kg. The price fell to Rs 9125.10. July silver futures volumes stood at 2820 kg while open interest increased to 8375 kg. The price fell to Rs 9133.95 from Rs 9516.30.

The August contract of silver futures closed at Rs 9142.15 with a volume of 180 kg and an open interest of 1670 kg, compared with last week's price of Rs 9508.10.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) June gold delivery rose to Rs 5750 from Rs 5806 amid an open interest of 35 gram with a volume of 26 ram. The August contract however fell to Rs 5789 from last week's Rs 5838.

June mini gold on MCX fell to Rs 5721 as against previous week's close of Rs 5802. There was a drastic fall in volume of contracts from 45 gram to 5 gram, and open interest fell to 1 gram from 21 gram.

The August gold-mini contract fell from Rs 5837 last week to Rs 5798. The open interest stood at 25 gram and the volume traded was 17 gram.

The July silver contract closed up at Rs 9160 compared to the previous week's close of Rs 9485. The volume of contract fell to 16680 kg from 21,780 kg, the open interest was 15240 kg.

The September silver contract closed higher at Rs 9215 on Friday from Rs 9553 last week. The open positions stood at 1260 and the volume of contract was 7500 kg.

The July contract for mini-silver closed at Rs 9171 from Rs 9518 last week. The open interest closed at 910 kg and the volume of contract stood at 320 kg.