Domestic gold prices fell on Friday, hitting the lowest level since February. MCX gold futures fell 0.4 percent to touch an intraday low of Rs 49,202 per 10 grams, marginally away from the all-time low of Rs 49,170. Globally, gold was slightly lower, while Spot gold was traded at $1662.49 per ounce in the initial trade.

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Meanwhile, white metal futures dropped 0.88 percent to Rs 55,923 at around 11:40 am on Friday.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies of other major trading partners, was up at 109.59 early Friday. As of 11:40 am, the US Dollar Index Futures was up 0.14 percent, trading at 109.610.

The rupee declined by 10 paise from its previous close to 79.80 against the US dollar on Friday amid a fall in crude oil rates and ease in the greenback overseas.

Manoj Kumar Jain, Head-Commodity and Currency Research at Prithvi Finmart, said, "Gold and silver were solidly lower in the international markets after Fitch ratings downgrades global growth for 2022 and 2023.

"At MNC, gold is having support at Rs 49,100-Rs 48,880 and resistance at Rs 49,500-Rs 49,720 while silver is having support at Rs 56,100-Rs 55,550 and resistance at Rs 56,750-Rs 57,200. We suggest selling in silver below Rs 56,500 with a stop loss of Rs 56,900 for the target of Rs 55,600," he noted.

This came after global gold rates dropped to their lowest level since April 2020 on Thursday, hurt by elevated US Treasury yields and a firm dollar, as bets of another hefty rate hike by the US Federal Reserve eroded bullion's appeal, Reuters reported.

Besides, Indian equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 started the last trading session of the week sharply lower amid nervousness across global markets, after a red-hot US inflation reading this week dashed early hopes the Fed will slow down with its hikes in COVID-era interest rates.

Equities in other Asian markets begin Friday deep in the red, mirroring a weak session on Wall Street overnight, as nervousness persists among investors that the Fed has little reason to ease its rate hiking cycle.

Global crude oil benchmarks fell in early trade as fears of tight supply outweighed recession and rising inflation concerns. Brent crude futures 0.4 percent to $90.5 a barrel. WTI futures fell 0.8 percent to $81.4 per barrel.

(Edited by : Akriti Anand)

First Published:Sept 16, 2022 12:51 PM IST