NEW DELHI: Gold prices, which touched a time-high last week, inched up marginally on Monday. The precious metal traded at around 60,541 rupees per 10 grams on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) for June contracts, showing a gain of Rs 235 compared to the previous day.
Gold touched a record high of Rs 61,371 on the MCX last week but later declined due to easing demand. The prices of gold are likely to rise further, driven by retail and institutional investors, say experts.
“Gold prices are rising for the last one month and prices have sustained above major psychological resistance of Rs 60,000 per 10 gram. The environment is still bullish and is likely to take prices 20% higher from current levels towards about Rs 70,000 by the end of the current fiscal year,” Renisha Chainani, head - Research, Augmont- Gold For All, a gold trading and research platform, told this newspaper.
Some mutual fund investors have used high prices as an opportunity to book profits. Inflow in gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) fell 74% year-on-year to Rs 653 crore in FY23, mainly due to profit booking in this asset class and investors’ preference for equities.
The asset base of gold ETFs and investors’ account or folio numbers increased in the last fiscal, data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed.