Crude jumps almost 10% on short covering; jewellers await demand pick up as gold tanks

Mumbai: Some of the biggest traders on commodity bourse MCX were caught on the wrong foot being cumulatively short crude oil , which jumped 9% intraday Monday on news of Pfizer's Covid vaccine trial being 90% effective in preventing outbreaks.

At end of trading Friday top 10 clients were cumulatively short by 2825 contracts against their counterparts who were long 1743 contracts. Monday intraday the price surged to Rs 3025 a barrel.

The top 10 clients either side account for majority of the open interest creators on MCX.

"If big traders were cumulatively short , there could be margin calls on them the next day if the rally sustained," said Naveen Mathur , associate director Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers.

Gold active futures on MCX which mimics the spot rate plumbed Rs 2815 from an intraday high to a low of Rs 49705 (ex GST) per 10 gm intraday Monday. If the price continues to correct amid risk on sentiment across the global markets , it could result in "good physical buying" said Aditya Pethe, director , Waman Hari Pethe Jewellers which has 26 stores pan India.

Kumar Jain, a well known jeweller in Mumbai's famous Zaveri Bazaar, said demand would spurt if prices corrected over the next few days with Dhanteras and Diwali around the corner.