MCX gold falls nearly 4%, silver plunges over ₹14,600/kg as Trump dashes hopes of de-escalation in West Asia

At around 11:12 AM, the yellow metal contract was trading ₹2,050 or 2.28% lower at ₹1,50,200 per 10 grams in business transactions of 6,673 lots, tracking a sell-off in international prices.

So far in this holiday-shortened week, the safe-haven futures contract has fallen 2%.

At the time of writing, silver futures for expiry in May stood at its intraday low of ₹2,28,891 per kilogram, marking a ₹14,610 or 6% slump in business transactions of 5,808 lots on the MCX, as against the previous closing price of ₹2,43,501 per kilogram.

This week, the white metal futures have advanced about 2%.

The MCX will observe a holiday on April 3 on the occasion of Good Friday.

COMEX gold, silver prices

Internationally, COMEX gold contracts (May expiry) slumped as much as 2.68% to an intraday low of $4,646.90 per troy ounce, from the closing price of $4,796.10 in the previous session.

At the time of writing, it was trading 2.85% lower at $4,659.20 per troy ounce.

Over the past five days, the COMEX yellow metal contract (April expiry) has surged 7%. The metal has fallen nearly 12% in March due to the conflict in West Asia, marking its worst monthly drop since 2008.

COMEX silver (delivery in May) has plunged as much as 7.59% to the day’s low of $70.305 per ounce, compared to the previous close of $76.08 per ounce.

The contract was trading at $71.12 per ounce, down by 6.52% at the time of writing. It has advanced 4% so far over the last five days.

Why are precious metal prices falling?

Gold prices broke their four-day winning streak, as the US President gave a national address on April 1, stating that the US would continue the war in Iran over the next couple of weeks, curbing hopes of de-escalation.

In the televised address, US President Donald Trump stated that the United States was set to hit Iran “extremely hard over the next two or three weeks. Following the address, Brent Crude prices were hovering above the $105 per barrel (bbl) mark, a day after falling below $100 per bbl.

Meanwhile, the dollar strengthened, as the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.51% higher at 100.055.