Gold & Silver Watch: Yellow & white metals lose some sheen—Key factors influencing rates, how to trade and more

Why are gold and silver prices falling again? Domestic precious metal rates faced selling pressure on Thursday amid a mix of factors, with analysts anticipating some profit-booking following bouts of sharp rallies to record highs as the US dollar strengthened. Gains in the greenback dent the appeal of precious metals as those holding other currencies have to shell out more money for their positions.

While a muted trend in equities supported precious metal rates along with uncertainty on the trade tariff front and bullish gold forecasts, factors like the wedding season drawing to a close and caution ahead of US-Iran nuclear talks continued to cause pressure with investors in a wait-and-watch mode.

MCX Gold and Silver Rates: Gold down 1%, silver set to halt 6-day winning run

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On commodity derivative exchange MCX, gold futures (April 2 delivery) fell by as much as Rs 2,295 -- or 1.4 per cent -- to Rs 1,58,850 while silver futures (March 5) dropped by Rs 13,144 -- or 4.9 per cent -- to Rs 2,55,172.

At around 8 pm, gold and silver contracts were down by Rs 2093 -- or 1.3 per cent -- and by Rs 9,066 -- or 3.4 per cent -- at Rs 1,59,052 and Rs 2,59,250, respectively.

Comex gold and silver

In the international market, gold was down 0.8 per cent at $5,184.6 per ounce while silver was down 4.6 per cent at $86.8 per ounce.

The dollar index -- which gauges strength in the US currency against six peers other than the rupee -- inched 0.1 per cent higher at the last count.

Earlier on Thursday, the rupee closed nearly unchanged at 90.92 against the US dollar.

How to trade gold and silver now? Key levels to track and analyst views

"US-Iran talks could give further directions to precious metals. The trend remains volatile for now," said Manoj Kumar Jain, director at Prithvi Finmart.

"We are experiencing very high price volatility in both precious metals, but silver could hold on to its key support level of $74.00 per troy ounce and gold could also hold its support level of $4,940 per troy ounce on a closing basis this week," said Jain, who expects both metals to remain volatile this week, mirroring the trend in the dollar index with US-Iran talks and US PPI data in focus.

He believes support and resistance for gold exist at $5,164-5,122 and $5,258-5,300 per ounce, and for silver at $88.00-84.80 and $93.20-96 in intraday trade, respectively.

On MCX, gold has support at Rs 1,60,000-1,57,700 and resistance at Rs 1,62,500-1,64,000, and silver has support at Rs 2,63,600-2,58,800 and resistance at Rs 2,74,000-2,80,000, he said.

"We suggest booking profits in gold and silver at higher levels and waiting for some corrective dips for taking fresh long positions," he added.

Typically, losses in equities boost the inflation-beating appeal of precious metals like gold, and vice versa.

Gold off three-week highs

This week, the yellow metal hit a three-week high in the global market, after US President Donald Trump vowed to raise duties to 15 per cent from an initial 10 per cent following the US Supreme Court ruling that his use of an emergency law to impose tariffs exceeded his authority.

Trump's tariffs have kept investors on tenterhooks for almost a year now, with ripples visible across asset classes, including precious metals. Trade uncertainty often supports gold. However, the immediate market reaction saw a rotation out of safe-haven assets as investors reassessed risk appetite.

Analysts globally are assessing the impact of the new 15 per cent US tariff on exports into the US, causing volatility in safe-haven assets.

Meanwhile, officials from Iran and the US are scheduled to engage in the next round of nuclear talks in Geneva later in the day.

The upcoming meeting comes amid growing concerns about the risk of military conflict between the longtime adversaries.