Silver leads rally

DOMESTIC REVIEW / BULLION

The domestic bullion market saw silver prices shooting up, driven by industrial demand, in line with international markets. Gold prices rose in Europe as well.

In the European spot markets, gold traded at $403.50 /404.25 per troy ounce, and silver closed at $6.60/6.63 as on Friday. The domestic demand during the past week also accelerated, with spot gold (99.50 purity) in Mumbai closing at Rs 6160 from last week's close of Rs 6095 per 10 gram. Spot gold (99.90 purity) rose to Rs 6190.00 from Rs 6125.

Spot silver (.999) skyrocketed to close at Rs 10715.00 on Saturday from last week's Rs 10,190 per kilogram. Prices witnessed a jump of Rs 205 from Thursday's close of Rs 10210 to Rs 10415 on Friday.

On the futures market, silver saw higher volumes, with the prices scaling up. On the National Commodity Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), the July contract rose to Rs 6055.30 from previous week's close of Rs 6012.10 amid an open position of 414500 gram. Volumes stood at 33900 gram.

August gold contract closed at Rs 6025.95 from 6001.45, and September contract closed at Rs 6022.50 from Rs 5996.95, with a volume of 1100 gram.

The volumes of NCDEX July silver futures volumes dipped to 4500 kg from 9410 kg while open interest stood at 23140 kg. The price rose to Rs 10202.80. August silver futures volumes was at 6815 kg while open interest increased to 15925 kg. The price increased to Rs 10152.20 from Rs 9906.30.

The September silver futures closed at Rs 10155.00 from Rs 9902.20, amid an open interest of 5505 kg and a volume of contract of 490 kg.

The August gold contract on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) rose to Rs 6065.00 as against previous week's close of Rs 6059.00. The volume of contracts closed at 1152 kg, and open interest moved to 1694 kg.

The October contract rose to Rs 6062.00 from Rs 6049 last week with an open interest of 236 kg and a volume of 94 kg traded. The August mini-gold closed at Rs 6046.00 from Rs 6045, with an open interest of 71 kg and a volume of 9 kg.

The July silver contract closed up at Rs 9820.00 compared to the previous week's close of Rs 9500. The open interest stood at 60 kg.

The September silver contract closed higher at Rs 10218.00 on Friday from Rs 10,020 last week. The open positions stood at 61740 kg and the volume of contract was 39660 kg.

The July contract for mini-silver closed at Rs 9464 from Rs 9382 last week. The open interest closed at 5 kg.

The September mini-silver contract closed at Rs 10183.00 compared to Rs 9998 the previous week. The open interest stood at 1195 kg with a volume of 1080 kg.