Gold and silver prices today: Yellow metal dips, down 1.01% YTD

Gold and silver prices today: Gold prices opened on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on Monday at Rs 62,493 per 10 grams and hit an intraday low of Rs 62,400. In the international market, prices hovered around $2,033.85 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile, silver opened at Rs 70,776 per kg and hit an intraday low of Rs 70,776 on the MCX. The price hovered around $22.58 per troy ounce in the international market.

Manav Modi, Analyst, Commodity and Currency, MOFSL, said, "Gold prices slipped in the previous session as the dollar and US bond yields jumped after a strong non-farm payrolls report, which created some uncertainty about Fed's monetary policy path this year."

Gold
MTD -0.28%, -173
YTD -1.01%, -641

Silver
MTD -1.44%, -1039
YTD -4.33%, -3222

Anuj Gupta, Chief of Commodity and Currency at HDFC Securities, said, "Yesterday gold prices corrected sharply by 0.64% and closed at 62562 levels. Silver prices also corrected sharply by 1.40% and closed at 71208 levels. Strength in the dollar index after FOMC stated that they are not in a hurry to cut rates. The dollar index is trading at 8-week high levels. Positive US economic data also support the dollar index."

The dollar index was 0.9% higher, trading around the 104 mark, and benchmark 10-year bond yields were also trading around 4.1%. U.S. employers added 353,000 jobs in January, beating the estimates of 180,000.

However, Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, said, "Gold prices stayed positive last week with gains of Rs 800 odd in MCX at 62900 on back of Middle East tensions and uncertainty over interest rate higher for longer or sooner cuts kept Gold stay higher above $2040 this week in Comex and 62000 acted as strong support in MCX."

Also read: Government to withdraw previous direct tax claims, offering relief to 10 million of taxpayers

Also read: Gold and silver prices today: Yellow metal soars to one-month high

Also read: Are ULIPs the right choice for a 30-year-old juggling parenthood & future child planning?

"A resilient economy and strong worker productivity encouraged businesses to hire and retain more employees. However, amidst the geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East and the intervention of the US, it provided a strong floor for gold prices again," added Modi.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell, in the FOMC meeting, dismissed the idea of lowering interest rates in the spring but voiced confidence that inflation would return to the 2% target. However, later Governor Powell expressed confidence about a rate cut this year, pinning it on either lower inflation or labour data.  

"CME Fed Watch Tool shows that traders are now expecting about a 70% chance of a U.S. rate cut in May, compared to 92% before the data. Services PMI from major economies will be important to keep an eye on," added Modi.