Gold Silver Reports — COMEX Gold edged up to a three-week high amid broad weakness in US dollar. Dollar eased on Thursday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said ECB policymakers would discuss potential changes to the banks bond-buying scheme in the autumn, lifting the euro to a 14-month high against the dollar.
This pulled the broad dollar index lower too. The dollar index is around a 10 month low. COMEX Gold is quoting around $1246 per ounce in Asian trades, almost unchanged on the day. MCX Gold futures are trading at Rs 28365 per 10 grams, up marginally on the day.
Gold has edged up this week after a recent lull following weak speculative interest. Gold speculators sharply trimmed their bullish net positions in the gold futures markets this week for a fifth consecutive week, according to the latest Commitment of Traders (COT) data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday. The non-commercial futures contracts of Gold futures, traded by large speculators and hedge funds, totaled a net position of 60,260 contracts in the data reported through Tuesday July 11th. This was a weekly reduction of -33,539 contracts from the previous week which had a total of 93,799 net contracts.
Gold speculators have now decreased their bullish net positions by -144,205 over the past five weeks. The current level is at the lowest point for net positions in seven months. Meanwhile, the commercial traders position, categorized by the CFTC as hedgers or traders engaged in buying and selling for business purposes, totaled a net position of -73,916 contracts on the week. This was a weekly advance of 33,310 contracts.
Meanwhile, in line with the London Bullion Market (LBMA) best practices, the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) has proposed before the government the “Good Delivery Rules” for gold and silver bars. The India Good Delivery Bar will be formed by domestic refiners. The association has called for public views on the draft proposal. IBJA may include some of these suggestions and forward an updated draft to the government, which is expected to be used in the formulation of a gold policy. — Neal Bhai Reports
