Gold rate rises on safe haven demand amid soaring Covid-19 cases
NEW DELHI: Gold and silver climbed higher in early trade on Tuesday as traders rushed to safe haven assets amid worries over rising Covid-19 cases across the world.
The total coronavirus patient count in India topped 11.5 lakh, the third highest in the world, with over 28,000 deaths. To check the spread, many states have increased restrictions on businesses and movement, threatening economic recovery.
Gold futures were up 0.16 per cent or Rs 78 at Rs 49,105 per 10 grams. Silver futures rose 2.06 per cent or Rs 1,113 to Rs 55,118 per kg.
Gold prices fell by Rs 31 to Rs 49,916 per 10 gram in the national capital on Monday owing to a weak global trend, according to HDFC Securities. Silver also declined by Rs 51 to Rs 53,948 per kg.
Globally, gold edged up after scaling a near nine-year high in the previous session, as demand was boosted by worries over a spike in coronavirus cases and expectations of higher inflation from more stimulus measures to mitigate the economic blow.
Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at $1,818.53 per ounce by 0040 GMT, after hitting its highest since September 2011 at $1,820.06 on Monday. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1 per cent to $1,819.
More than 14.61 million people have been reported to be infected by COVID-19 globally and 606,979 have died, according to a Reuters tally.
Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust rose 0.4 per cent to 1,211.86 tonnes on Monday.
The dollar index fell to a more than four-month low against a basket of major currencies.
Asian shares were set to open higher after U.S. markets gained ground on positive data from trials of three potential COVID-19 vaccines.
Palladium fell 0.2 per cent to $2,050.55 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.1 per cent to $844.40 and silver gained 0.3 per cent to $19.89.