US Dollar Strengthens, Upbeat Job Data, Gold Falls Below $1,730 Globally

Internationally, the gold market is under pressure, as the US Dollar index is taking big leaps every day now. The US Dollar index has reached 107.09, near the 52-week level. As a dollar-dominated asset class, the gold market is under major pressure. In the futures market, gold rates dropped below around $1726/oz. In line with the global trend, gold rates have also fallen in India. Today, the 22-carat gold rate is quoted at around Rs. 46,850/10 grams, and 24-carat gold rate is quoted at around Rs. 51,110/10 grams in the country.

According to a recent report by Kitco News, "The U.S. data point of the week is Friday morning's employment situation report for June. The key non-farm payrolls number came in at up 372,000, versus market expectations for a rise of 250,000 and compares to the 390,000 gain in the May report. The unemployment rate in June was 3.6%. Gold dipped a bit on the news, but more importantly, U.S. Treasury yields rose. The rising U.S. bond yields late this week suggest the marketplace is putting inflation worries back closer the front burner of the marketplace, and maybe on par with recession worries."

Today, the Comex gold futures were quoted at $1,742.20/oz, gaining by 0.14%, from the last trading day. Yesterday it was last quoted at $1,739.70/oz. The spot gold prices were last quoted at $1744.60/oz, gaining by 0.22%, from the last trading day. The US Dollar index quoted at 107.06, surging by 0.07%. In India, the Mumbai Commodity Exchange (MCX) gold in August future was quoted at Rs. 51258/10 grams, falling by 0.09%, from the last trading day.

However, amid a down gold market, gold ETFs have been marginally up in the last month. The World Gold Council informs, "Global gold ETFs registered 28t (US$1.7bn) of outflows in June. This was the second consecutive month of outflows, following the 53t (US$3.1bn) that left these funds in May. While the recent flows were enough to push Q2 into net outflows of 39t (US$2bn), year-to-date net inflows remained positive at 234t (US$14.8bn). Total holdings at the end of June stood at 3,792t (US$221.7bn), up 6% y-t-d."

Gold rates are quoted differently, daily. Today's gold rates in major Indian cities follow: