Gold prices edge closer to record levels in India; global prices hit over 3-week high

New Delhi: Yellow metal prices in India on Friday (May 15) moved higher for the third day in a row and reached closer to record highs. June gold futures rose 0.3% to about Rs 46,800 per 10 gram on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). Gold had surged about 1.4%, tracking strong global cues in the previous session. 

Gold prices in India had hit a record high of Rs 47,327 per 10 gram in the month of April. Silver futures on MCX, however, surged Rs 615 to Rs 44,750 per kg, extending their Rs 1,090 gain of the previous session. On Thursday, the gold price had surged 1.46 per cent giving an indication of a fresh rally in the precious metal. 

Commodity experts reportedly opined that the rise in gold price is due to the weak US job data and expectations of negative US Fed interest rate till coronavirus fear exists. On MCX, the gold price is expected to hit Rs 47,400 levels in one week's time.

On the global front, Gold hit its highest in more than three weeks today as US-China relations took a turn, and investors fretted that the economy would take longer than expected to recover from a coronavirus-induced slump. 

Spot gold gained 0.4% to $1,735.67 per ounce by 0616 GMT, having earlier touched its highest since April 23 at $1,737.50, while US gold futures rose 0.3% to $1,746.20, according to  Reuters report.

An already dismal near-term US economic outlook has darkened further, a Reuters survey showed. While recovery is still forecast in the second half of the year, it won`t come close to regaining the ground it lost this year.

British manufacturers also think they will take longer to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19 than just a couple of weeks ago, said the Reuters report citing an industry survey.

Notably, gold has gained about 2% so far this week, poised for its biggest weekly gain in three, supported by signs of prolonged economic weakness and as tensions between the United States and China flared up.

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said the pandemic had cast a pall over his January trade deal with China and suggested he could even cut ties with Beijing.

Among other precious metals, palladium reportedly gained 0.3% to $1,840.86 an ounce but was on track to post its seventh straight weekly drop, while platinum rose 0.4% to $770.88 per ounce. 

Meanwhile, silver jumped 2.5% to $16.26 an ounce and was set to mark its biggest weekly gain in five.