Bullion futures on MCX recovered its previous losses last week ended on Friday on fresh investment demand. Gold in the overseas market reached back above $668 an ounce for the fourth time. The active August gold contract was up Rs 132 or 1.52% to trade at Rs 8,781 per 10 gram. The open interest was 11,083 kg. London gold was traded $8 higher at $666.72 an ounce. The rising Gold Price came alongside sharp gains in world equity markets.
?Our view on gold is very positive going forward. Investment demand is growing and that is important because investment demand is the only thing which has driven a bull market in gold,? said Richard Davis, head of natural resources at Merrill Lynch.
The active July silver contract was higher Rs 491 or 2.81% to trade at Rs 17,910 per kg. The open interest was 315,210 kg. Silver in London was traded higher at $13.05 an ounce on Friday in line with gold prices after the dollar fell to a record low against the euro.
Base metals futures including copper and nickel reacted at the higher levels while zinc futures prices moved up smartly following firm overseas markets. Nickel futures fell sharply mainly on higher inventories accompanied by a further bout of de-stocking in the stainless steel market.
The expiring July nickel contract was down Rs 101.70 or 7% to trade at Rs 1,336.30 per kg. The open interest was 105 tonne. LME nickel was traded lower at $33,395 a tonne, down by $2080 a tonne.
Nickel has been experiencing a weakening in demand from the stainless steel sector. The active August copper contract was down Rs 3.30 a kg to trade at Rs 318.95 per kg. LME copper was traded lower at $7,937 a tonne, down by $29 on the news that workers at the Collahuasi mine in Chile on Thursday voted to end their four-day strike.
The active August crude oil contract was higher at Rs. 2,945 per barrel on Friday, up by Rs 25. The open interest was 5.48 lakh barrels on Friday. Nymex crude oil was traded higher at $72.87 per barrel, up by $1.25. Prices also found strong support from fresh unrest in Nigeria.