Festive boost to gold prices

Hyderabad: Amidst thickening of inflationary clouds over the USA and other advanced countries and likely increase in Fed rate, the yellow metal retained its strength during the week ended Saturday. Consequently, New York gold closed at $1,865 (per Ounce) while silver closed at $25.31 (per Ounce). Platinum and Palladium closed at $1,081 (per Ounce) and $2,053 (per Ounce) respectively.

In local markets, after the glitteriest Dassera and Diwali festivals, now all eyes are set on X'mas and New Year for the repeat-run. Standard gold (24 carats) further appreciated by Rs 980 and closed at Rs 50,180 (per 10 gms). Ornamental gold too, followed suit and was quoted in the range of Rs 46,000 – 46,100 on the closing day. Silver (0.999) too, appreciated by Rs 3,000 and closed at Rs 71,700 (per kg).

Commodities

Rythu Bazars and the various commodity markets in Begum Bazar, Kishangunj, Mukthyargunj, Risala Abdullah, Mir AlamMandi, Dilsukhnagar, Kukatpally, Bowenpally and General Bazar recorded moderate trading. In Guntur, chillies got a boost of Rs 500-600 (per quintal) following the export orders received from China, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. However, in Karnataka's Byadgi there was almost no impact of this factor.

During the week, common pulses - tuar dal, masoor dal, moong dal and urad dal and commodities like chillies and garlic remained unchanged at their respective last week's closing levels, while staple foodgrains and common edible oil recorded a negligible decline. The NECC wholesale egg-price in Hyderabad further appreciated by Rs 5 and closed at Rs 440 (per 100). The highest price of Rs 540 was recorded in Lucknow, while Hospet recorded the lowest at Rs 420.