Gold falls Rs105, silver zooms Rs 730

New Delhi: Gold prices declined by Rs105 to Rs59,975 per 10 grams in the national capital on Monday amid a fall in prices of precious metal internationally, according to HDFC Securities.

The yellow metal settled at Rs60,080 per 10 grams in the previous trade. Silver, however, zoomed Rs730 to Rs75,700 per kg.

“Spot gold prices in the Delhi markets traded at Rs 59,975 per 10 grams, down Rs 105 per 10 grams,” said Saumil Gandhi, senior analyst (commodities) at HDFC Securities. In the overseas market, gold was quoting lower at $1,981 per ounce, while silver was up at $25.12 per ounce. Traders avoided fresh buying before the key event of the US Federal Reserve's meeting on Wednesday, Gandhi said. World Gold Council (WGC) in its latest report on gold demand trends reveals that annual gold demand (excluding OTC) in 2022 increased by 18 per cent y-o-y, hitting 4,741 tonne, the highest annual total since 2011. Boosted by a record fourth quarter, demand for gold was propelled by hefty central bank-buying and persistently strong retail investment.

Annual central bank demand more than doubled to 1,136 tonne in 2022, up from 450 tonne the year before and to a new 55-year record high. Purchases in Q4 2022 alone reached 417 tonne, bringing the total for the second half of 2022 to more than 800 tonne. Investment demand (excluding OTC) in 2022 was up 10 per cent on the previous year. The increase was the result of two factors: a notable slowdown in ETF outflows and strong gold bar and coin demand.

Louise Street, senior markets analyst at World Gold Council, said: “Last year we saw the highest level of annual gold demand in over a decade, driven in part by colossal central bank demand for the safe haven asset. Gold’s diverse demand drivers played a balancing act as rising interest rates prompted some tactical ETF outflows, while elevated inflation spurred on gold bar and coin investment. In the end, overall investment demand was up 10 per cent on the previous year.”