Gold prices decline by Rs 350, silver drops Rs 200

New Delhi, Aug 23 (PTI) Gold prices declined by Rs 350 to Rs 73,800 per 10 grams in the national capital on Friday, according to the All India Sarafa Association.

In the previous session, gold of 99.9 per cent purity traded at Rs 74,150 per 10 grams.

Silver declined by Rs 200 to Rs 87,000 per kg from Rs 87,200 per kg in the previous day.

Meanwhile, gold of 99.5 per cent purity also dropped by Rs 350 to Rs 73,450 per 10 grams against Rs 73,800 per 10 grams on Thursday.

The yellow metal extended losses on Friday, weighed down by rising US Treasury yields and a recovery in the dollar index, market experts said.

Prices of precious metal were also influenced by the minutes of the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) released by RBI on Thursday.

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said that the current policy rate of 6.5 per cent is broadly balanced, and any justification for policy easing at this juncture can be misleading, according to the MPC minutes.

Governor Das and three other members voted for the status quo on the repo rate in the MPC, while two members advocated a rate cut.

Globally, gold at Comex gained USD 18.20 to trade at USD 2,534.90 per ounce. Silver was trading 1.24 per cent higher at USD 29.84 per ounce in the international markets.

Minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s July meeting revealed a strong inclination toward a rate cut next month, a move supported by at least two Fed officials, Prathamesh Mallya, DVP- Research, Non-Agri Commodities and Currencies, Angel One Ltd, said.

“Speculators overstated the likelihood of an aggressive rate cut before the end of the year; now they trimmed their bets and are pricing three 25-basis-point cuts across the remaining three Fed policy meetings this year, down from around four cuts priced two days ago,” said Saumil Gandhi, Senior Analyst – Commodities at HDFC Securities.

This led to a recovery in Treasury yields and the dollar index from their recent lows, he added.

On the outlook, Mallya said that gold is likely to find support as the market anticipates potential rate cuts by the US Fed.

Market traders also await Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday.