Following the crisis in the global financial sector, gold prices have surged to a lifetime high of Rs 60,100 per 10 grams during Monday trade. According to analysts inventors are bullish on gold as it is considered a safe haven amid the market turmoil. Hitting a new lifetime high, MCX Gold futures were trading at Rs 60,280 at around 12:55 pm, up by Rs 897 or 1.51 per cent. MCX silver prices also rose and were trading at Rs 69,100 per kg, up by Rs 599 or 0.87 per cent.
This is as Nifty50 declined over 200 points to trade below 16,900 levels, whereas the S&P BSE Sensex lowered over 850 points to hit the day's low of 57,085 levels during the intra-day trade.
Rahul Kalantri, VP of Commodities at Mehta Equities told the Economic Times (ET), "Bullion was purchased as a safe haven after the sudden fallout of the SVC bank and other banks. The US bond rates saw unprecedented weakness, the dollar index fell, and gold prices increased. In view of the banking crisis and conflicting US economic statistics, the Fed is expected to convene this week on March 22. The policy outcomes may provide further guidance for the bullion markets.”
“Gold, a safe haven asset, is currently in a very favourable financial and economic situation. We anticipate a significant increase in price if gold closes over $2,000 (spot), which could potentially occur at levels of $2,070 and $2,185. For domestic gold, the levels to watch after a close above Rs 60,540 are Rs 61,920 and Rs 64,000. Yet, this week's expected US Fed discussion is extremely significant,” Kalantri added.
Anuj Gupta, Vice President (VP) of Commodity and Currency Research at IIFL Securities said, “As expected, last week, we saw a rally in gold and silver. MCX Gold made a new lifetime high of Rs 59,461 levels and it increased by 5.85 per cent and closed at 59,420 levels. In the international market, it increased by 6.49 per cent and closed at $1,988 levels. MCX Silver made a 6-week high of 68,720 levels. It increased by 9.22 per cent and closed at 68,649 levels. In the international market, it increased by 10.07 per cent and closed at $22.59 levels.”
Meanwhile, the broader markets edged lower, as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices dropped over 1 per cent each. The volatility index, India VIX jumped over 13 per cent.
All sectors were in red, with Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Media indices declining up to 2 per cent.