Prices look up on rising demand

DOMESTIC REVIEW/ BULLION

The domestic bullion market regained momentum last week on the back of rising demand for precious metals and a strong rally in New York.

During the week ended June 19, spot gold (99.50 purity) closed higher at Rs 5,880 per 10 gram against last Friday's close of Rs 5,730. Spot silver (.999) also closed on a bullish note on June 19 at Rs 9,585 against Rs 9,255 per kg on last Friday.

On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), the June contract rose to Rs 5,793.25 on Friday from last Friday's close of Rs 5,724.05 amid an open position of 1,56,800. Volumes rose to 1,61,200 gram.

The July gold contract witnessed a minor rise to Rs 5,784.35 from Rs 5747.75. The volumes were at 1,23,500 gram. Open interest stood at 2,41,900 gram.

The August contract increased to Rs 5,797.15 from Rs 5,763.95, with open positions worth 1,03,600 gram and a volume of 30,500 gram.

Pure gold per kg June contract closed at Rs 5,795 from Rs 5,719, with an open interest of 35 kg and a volume of 78 kg. The July contract closed at Rs 5,785, up from Rs 5,745 in the previous week amid an open interest of 17 kg, and a volume of 4 kg. The August contract closed at Rs 5,800 from last week's Rs 5,745.

The NCDEX June silver future volumes rose from 525 kg to 9,720 kg, while open interest decreased to 6,950 kg from 21,355 kg. July silver future volume stood at 2,160 kg, while open interest increased to 12,925 kg.

The price rose to Rs 9,267.30 from Rs 9,094.20. The August contract of silver futures closed at Rs 9,269.75 with a volume of 1,745 kg and an open interest of 6,770 kg compared with last week's price of Rs 9,071.25.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), the August gold contract rose from Rs 5,748 to Rs 5,824, amid an open interest of 588 gram and a volume of 1,686 gram.

The August 13 mini gold on the MCX rose from Rs 5,761 as against the previous week's close of Rs 5,824. The volume of contracts rose from 16 gram to 32 gram, and the open interest moved up from to 33 gram to 23 gram.