TODAY’S GOLD STATUS IN MCX MARKET BY SHREE MCX .COM

Gold Prices Fall on Strong Dollar
Gold prices fell on Friday as the dollar strengthened.

Gold futures for August delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were down $3.6, or 0.28%, to $1,304.70 a troy ounce by 1:15 PM ET (05:15 AM GMT).

There was some support in gold prices earlier in the day after the European Central Bank (ECB) policy announcement struck a decidedly dovish tone, as expected.

The ECB also announced it would halt bond purchases and would phase out the economic stimulus by the end of the year. The central bank also said it would keep its interest rates unchanged at least through the summer of 2019. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, was up 0.05% to 94.98 on Friday.

Dollar-denominated assets such as gold are sensitive to moves in the dollar – a gain in the dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of foreign currency and thus decreases demand for the precious metal.  

Gold Prices Seesaw on Dovish ECB, Trade War Jitters May Resurface
Gold prices shot to the highest level in a month after the ECB policy announcement struck a decidedly dovish tone, as expected. Officials said they will wind down QE by year-end but this looked like an admission of defeat, not a declaration of victory. President Draghi said follow-on rate hikes will not come at least until the second half of 2019 and stressed the need for continued accommodation.

The markets were looking for a decidedly more hawkish outcome, so it seems hardly surprising that the ECB’s timid tone offered a lift to non-interest-bearing assets epitomized by the yellow metal. Gains proved fleeting however as a parallel plunge in the Euro echoed as broad US Dollar strength via the bellwether EUR/USD exchange rate. That undermined anti-fiat appeal, erasing most of gold’s gains for the day.

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