Gold rate: Yellow metal trades lower, silver near Rs 70,800

NEW DELHI: Gold and silver futures prices dropped lower up on Tuesday, as a stronger dollar and optimistic comments from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the economy weighed on the metal's safe-haven appeal.

The dollar index was up 0.1 per cent against its rivals, making gold more expensive for other currency holders. The US economy is doing better, but is "not out of the woods yet," Powell said on Monday.

Gold futures on MCX were down 0.06 per cent or Rs 27 at Rs 47,292 per 10 grams. Silver futures fell 0.19 per cent or Rs 137 to Rs 70,763 per kg.

In the spot market, highest purity gold was sold at Rs 46,900 while silver was priced at Rs 68,475 on Friday, according to the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association.


Trading strategy
“We expect gold prices to trade sideways to up for the day with COMEX gold support at $1,770 and resistance at $1,800 per ounce. MCX Gold June support lies at Rs 46,800 and resistance at Rs 47,600 per 10 gram,” said Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities.

Global markets
Spot gold was down 0.2 per cent at $1,789.02 per ounce by 0131 GMT. The metal touched its highest since Feb. 25 at $1,797.75 on Monday. US gold futures fell 0.2 per cent to $1,788.80 per ounce.

Palladium rose 0.2 per cent to $2,976.83 per ounce, after scaling an all-time high of $3,007.73 per ounce on Friday. Silver was down 0.5 per cent at $26.74 per ounce, while platinum dipped 0.1 per cent to $1,228.94.