Gold and silver were trading higher on Thursday after a sharp jump in the death toll from coronavirus in China.”Gold rose as investors sold equities and sought the safety of bullion after a sharp jump in the death toll and infections from a coronavirus epidemic in China. The greenback has reached a multi-month high level amid demand for safe-haven but it has got no impact on the gold since they are inversely related,” Jigar Trivedi, Fundamental Research Analyst – Commodities, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers said. Gold April futures were trading Rs 206 or 0.51 per cent higher at Rs 40,690 per 10 grams, while silver March futures were ruling at Rs 45,881 per Kg, up Rs 381 or 0.84 per cent on MCX.
“For intraday today we expect the yellow metal to stay positive since the rupee has weakened. In case Russia officially announces its support for OPEC strategy, only then gold may fall back otherwise the sentiment for today would be positive in the yellow metal,” Jigar Trivedi said. Oil prices rose on the hopes that major producers are likely to enact deeper output cuts to offset the slump in demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak in China, the world’s second-largest crude consumer, according to Reuters. Brent crude rose 17 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $55.96 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 29 cents, or 0.6 per cent, to $51.46 a barrel.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex and Nifty were trading over 0.25 per cent lower on Thursday. The S&P BSE Sensex was trading 133 points or 0.32 per cent lower at 41,433 points, while the broader Nifty 50 index was ruling at 12,161, down 40 points or 0.32 per cent.