MCX silver advances 4% to ₹2.62 lakh/kg; Gold rises 1% as the US dollar weakens

At around 3 pm, the white metal contract was trading 3.97% or ₹10,032 higher at ₹2,62,580 per kilogram on the MCX. On Tuesday, it declined 3.84% to close at ₹2,52,548 per kilogram.

In the global market, COMEX silver (March expiry) advanced as much as 4.34% to the session’s peak of $83.875 per troy ounce. It stood at $83.80 per ounce, up by 4.25% at the time of writing. On Tuesday, the metal had finished at $80.384 per ounce.

Similarly, gold futures for expiry in April advanced by ₹1,697 or 1.08% to an intraday high of ₹1,58,500 per 10 grams on the MCX.

At the time of writing, the yellow metal contract was at ₹1,58,300 per 10 grams, reflecting a ₹1,497 or 0.95% jump. In the previous session, the yellow metal climbed 0.80%, to settle at ₹1,56,803 per 10 grams.

Globally, COMEX gold (April delivery) gained as much as 1.08% to an intraday high of $5,093.30 per ounce. It was trading at $5,078.10 per ounce, marking a 0.94% rise at the time of writing. It had closed at $5,031 per ounce in the previous market session.

A weak US dollar lifted investor sentiment for precious metals, as the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.14% lower at 96.66.

Investors will be on the lookout for the US Labour Department's nonfarm payrolls report for January, expected to be released later today.

Furthermore, US retail data, released on Wednesday, showed that consumer activity for December slowed down as retail sales remained flat, after a 0.6% increase in November.