Gold prices jump over Rs 150 on Tuesday as IMF cuts growth outlook for India

Gold prices jumped in the future markets on MCX as a new strain of pneumonia in China could hamper economic growth. Also, theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) has trimmed its 2019 growth forecast for India to 4.8 per cent from its October projection of 6.1 per cent.

“MCX gold rose Tuesday morning due to flight to safe-haven by the international trade community. The demand for gold increased as rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions, two of which landed near the US Embassy,” Jigar Trivedi, Research Analyst- Commodities Fundamental, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers said. On MCX, Gold futures were trading Rs 184 higher at Rs 40,131 per 10 kg, while Silver futures were ruling Rs 251 higher at Rs 46,952 per Kg on Tuesday.

“Meanwhile, the IMF has cautioned risk ranging from trade tensions to climate change makes the global outlook uncertain. During the intraday we expect the yellow metal to stay positive due to weak rupee also,” Jigar Trivedi said.

In the international market, spot gold prices touched their highest since January 8 at $1,568.35 and were up 0.3 per cent at $1,566.06 per ounce. US gold futures were 0.4 per cent higher at $1,566.30. “Gold prices on MCX gained to trade near 40130 levels and still look firm as trade policy uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and idiosyncratic stress in key emerging market economies continued to weigh on global economic activity—especially manufacturing and trade—in the second half of 2019, according to the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook,” Ajay Kedia, Managing Director and Research Head, Kedia Advisories said.

Back in India, the domestic benchmark equities were trading lower on Tuesday. In the opening deals, S&P BSE Sensex dropped over 200 points while the broader Nifty 50 index slipped below 12,200 points.