MCX gold soars over ₹1.3 lakh/10 grams; Silver futures also rises as RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps

This comes after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) led by Governor Sanjay Malhotra unanimously decided to reduce the repo rate by 25 basis points.

On the MCX, yellow metal contracts for the April expiry stood at ₹1,32,222 per 10 grams, marking a ₹137 or 0.10% jump at around 10:37 am.

Similarly, silver futures for March delivery advanced by ₹2,440 or 1.37% to ₹1,80,578 per kilogram. White metal contracts for the May expiry gained ₹2,414 or 1.3% to ₹1,83,001 per kilogram.

On December 5, RBI’s MPC cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to a three-year low of 5.25%, on the back of lower inflation and strong growth the Indian economy witnessed during the second quarter of the current financial year.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 89.85 against the US dollar and gained ground, touching 89.69 in morning deals, registering a 20 paise gain from its previous close.

In the international markets, Comex gold (February delivery) surged by 0.07% to $4,245.90 per ounce, while Comex silver (January expiry) stood at $57.785 per troy ounce, up by 1.30%.

Globally, the cautious tone of the US economic data had investors betting on an 88.2% probability that the Federal Reserve will opt for a quarter-point rate cut at its December meeting next week, according to the CME Group's FedWatch.

The latest US data released on December 4 showed that jobless claims declined to their three-year low of 191,000 last week.

On Wednesday, the latest US ADP employment data showed that payrolls in November declined, with private-sector employers cutting 32,000 jobs during the month.

Investors will also be on the lookout for the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) index data to get further clarity on the Fed rate cut decision. It will be released later in the day.