Gold price update

Gold and silver prices opened slightly lower on the Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX) on Monday, as the dollar strengthened amid rising hostilities in the oil-rich Middle East, strengthening the US dollar.Gold futures with June expiry dropped 0.68% (Rs 1,000 per 10 grams) to trade at Rs 1,46,255 per 10 grams in the early trading hours of Monday on MCX. The contracts with April and August expiries meanwhile fell around 0.6% each. Silver futures with May expiry on MCX meanwhile declined around 0.5% (Rs 1,059 per kilogram) to trade at Rs 2,26,895 per kg.In the international market, spot gold fell over 1% to $4,439.45 per ounce, as of 0102 GMT. US gold futures for April delivery dropped 1.2% to $4,470.30 per ounce. ⁠Gold has crashed around 16% so far this month, marking its steepest monthly fall since October 2008, pressured by a stronger US dollar, which has gained more than 2% since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28. Spot silver fell 1.3% to $68.67 per ounce.The Donald Trump-led US administration is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, the Washington Post reported yesterday. US Central Command said on X that it has deployed 3,500 Marines and sailors to the Middle East aboard the USS Tripoli, marking the largest American military buildup in the region in two decades.

Iran’s parliament speaker, meanwhile, warned that the country’s forces were “waiting for American soldiers” and would “rain fire” on any US troops attempting to enter Iranian territory. In his message, reported by Iranian state media, Ghalibaf also said: “The enemy signals negotiation in public, while in secret it plots a ground attack”. Additionally, Yemeni Houthis launched their first attacks on ⁠Israel over ‌the weekend, widening the ongoing war and adding to inflation woes.The war, which began earlier this month with US-Israeli strikes killing Iran’s former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and resulting in massive retaliation from Tehran, has spread across the Middle East. Fear now rises for a ground offensive and the entry of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis.