Gold and silver decline on global cues

New York (Mar 6)  Gold declined over 1% in futures trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on Friday following heavy selling in global markets.

Gold for near month delivery was traded at Rs 26,217 per 10 gms on MCX in early evening trade against the previous close of Rs 26,534 per 10 gms.

The yellow metal in London declined by over 2% to trade at $1,177.6 an oz in spot trade on Friday due to large scale pullout by wary investors seeking refuge in an alternate investment avenue like stocks assuming bullish prospects.

"lnvestment in bullion looses appeal after reports of fewer new jobs added in February. In February private players added 212,000 jobs in February compared to 250,000 on January. Delay in the announcement of quantitative easing in the European Union also threatened bullion's appeal as profitable investment option," said Ajay Kedia, managing director of Kedia Commodity, a city-based broking firm.

"Investment in equities look more attractive in terms of returns. Therefore, inveators sold their holding in gold to divert the fund in equities in the markets like India," said an analyst.

Similarly, silver price fell by little less than 2% to trade at Rs 36,027 a kg in early evening trade on MCX for near month delivery. The white precious metal was closed at Rs 36610 a kg on Thursday.

Silver price fell by over 2% to trade at $15.86 an oz in early London trade against the previous close at $16.24 an oz.

In a surprise move, copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) followed the move of the bullion and declined by nearly 1.5% to trade at $5,782 a tonne against the previous close of $5,861 a tonne.

Soiurce: BusinessStandard