The WHO declared that the Coronavirus was a global emergency even as the death toll crossed 170 and the number of infected cases neared 8000. The BSE declined by around 0.69% to 40,913.82 while the rupee weakened further against the USD in India. Fear was the key as the Dow too declined by over 200 points intra-day; with both the FOMC and the BoE leaving interest rates unchanged in the US and the Brexit bound UK, respectively, gold surged ahead during the day. Moreover, the US dollar too weakened against some major currencies.
The yellow metal opened in London at $1,580.40 per ounce (London am fix). However, news that the coronavirus strain was not as powerful as the Sars virus, smooth Brexit from tomorrow, as well as professional traders, saw gold close in London lower at $1,578.25 per ounce. But, with the Dow recovering to end more than 100 points up over its previous close, the yellow metal ended in the $1,573-1.574 per ounce region, with a range of $1,572 to 1,586 per ounce. In early Asian trading, gold was last seen in the $1,574-75 per ounce region.
In the domestic market, gold opened at Rs.40,745 per 10 gms, a gain of Rs.281. Buoyed by global trends it closed even higher at Rs.40,848 per 10 gms, an overall rise of Rs.384. Silver too followed the same trend and ended the day with a gain of Rs.635 overall at Rs.46,170 per kg. But, late trading in New York as well as early morning Asian trading should see both the precious metals open sharply lower in the domestic markets. The union budget on February 1st is not likely to impact the opening as well.
