Gold

Fitch Rating downgraded its US debt rating to AA+ from AAA. The Rating downgrade reflects the expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing government debt burden, and erosion of governance. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen quickly responded to the downgrade, calling it “arbitrary” and “outdated.”

"The recent decline in gold prices (5.4 per cent from an all-time high) can be attributed to a slight reduction in global recession concerns and the strengthening of the US dollar. Additionally, with the possibility of an interest rate hike in the US, this trend may persist," Anil R, a Research Analyst, said. 

According to Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst - Commodities, HDFC Securities, prices of gold slightly recovered on Friday, with the spot gold price at Comex trading up by 0.17 per cent at $1,917 per ounce. The gold August future contract at MCX was trading up by 0.10 per cent at Rs 58,255 per 10 grams by noon.

The latest data set has led to a belief that the US Fed will take a pause and hold interest rates at current levels. The treasury yields too have softened from the high levels seen in the month of March. While the Fed Chairman indirectly hinted at the possibility of a pause, the other Fed officials, quite a number of them, sounded like there is enough room for the Fed funds rate to rise even beyond the 6 per cent level, from the current range of 5 per cent -5.25 per cent.

Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst, Commodities, HDFC Securities Ltd said the Comex Spot gold prices traded up on Friday, with spot gold price trading higher by 0.06 per cent at $1978.80 per ounce. While Gold August futures contract at MCX was trading up by 0.05 per cent at Rs 60,250 per 10 grams by noon.

Consumer affairs ministry sources said that there is a lot of confusion over the fact that compulsory hallmarking is going to come into effect from July 1 onwards on gold bullion, which is not the case. "Mandatory hallmarking is not going to come into effect from July 1 onwards for gold bullion. The process to make it compulsory has only.

For the past one week before Akshaya Tritiya, gold price has been holding near Rs 60,000 per 10 gm, down from Rs 61,350 odd levels in MCX. Thus, investors buying the yellow metal on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya shall keenly expect prices to drop somewhat for getting a bargain, said Jateen Trivedi, Vice President (Research), LKP Securities.

Though it is advisable to purchase gold in a strategic and staggered manner in order to average out purchase cost, and diversify your portfolio with at 10-15 per cent allocation to gold at all times, the question facing us this Akshaya Tritiya is whether we should do a token purchase, or can we buy more on this auspicious day towards building our gold allocation?

A higher probability is for gold to test the $2,100 level again and break through the same, Emkay Global added. "The only factor that may dilute this move (touching $2,100) would be a strong Dollar on the Dollar Index, and a more prolonged interest rate up-cycle. It is a bit too early to make any safe conclusions on this as geo-political conditions are not settled as yet, and market volatility is still rising," Emkay Global said.

"Gold prices traded up on Tuesday, with spot gold prices at Comex were trading higher by 0.74 per cent at $2,006.0 per ounce. Gold June future contract at MCX were trading up by 0.80 per cent at Rs 60,580 per 10 grams by noon session," said Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst, Commodities, HDFC Securities.