Gold traders stock up; rupee helps
Gold traders stock up; rupee helps
Mumbai: India’s gold traders continued to stock up on Friday afternoon, as the rupee, which hit its highest level in five months, made the dollar-quoted yellow metal cheaper despite near-record levels in the overseas market, dealers said.
“A lot of domestic buyers are there, I covered for about 100 kg from morning at $1,310-1,312 (an ounce)," said a dealer with a state-run bullion dealing bank in Mumbai.
Gold on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was trading 0.01% lower at Rs19,033 per 10 grams at 2:59pm, down 1.2% lower than the all-time high of Rs19,257 struck on 15 September.
The Indian rupee extended gains in afternoon session on Friday, reaching fresh 5-month highs, boosted by robust foreign portfolio investments and tracking broad losses in the dollar versus majors overseas.
Demand has been edging up for the past two weeks in India, the world’s biggest consumer of bullion, mainly helped by a strong rupee.
India, the world’s biggest consumer of the yellow metal, is in the middle of a festival season, with Dussera in October and Dhanteras in November, when jewellers register the highest sales every year. Weddings also take place during the festive season.
International gold rose but remained short of record highs after Chinese manufacturing data suggested the global economy was returning to strength and the dollar firmed, while focus turned to US data due later.
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