Gold futures slide below ₹1 lakh mark for 10 grams but yellow metal touches all-time high: Here is why it happened

Future prices for the precious metal dipped on Monday after gold contracts for August delivery slid by ₹532 or 0.53 per cent to trade at ₹99,744 for 10 grams. Despite this, gold climbed ₹802 to hit a lifetime high of ₹1,01,078 per 10 grams in the morning session on the bourse.

The decline in gold futures was attributed to muted spot demand on weak global cues and profit booking. However, market watchers think that safe-haven assets such as gold would continue to hold due to uncertainty clouding Trump tariffs and the escalation of the Israel-Iran conflict.

The Middle Eastern conflict pushed gold on the bourse to an all-time high. Buying ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting this week added to the push.

In India, the Reserve Bank of India reported that the country’s gold reserves rose by $1.58 billion to hit $85.88 billion during the week that ended on June 6. During the same week, forex reserves of the nation rose by $5.17 billion to close at $696.65 billion.

Last week, on Friday, gold prices surged for the third consecutive day, with 99.5 per cent pure metal jumping ₹1,900 to ₹1,00,700 per 10 grams, inclusive of all taxes.

While gold futures dipped, crude oil prices inched up by ₹46 to ₹6,207 per barrel in futures trade on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX). Global crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude traded 0.99 per cent higher at $73.70 per barrel while Brent crude spiked by 0.77 per cent to $73.70 per barrel, as fear of all-out war between Iran and Israel gripped Western investors.

Agencies covering the conflict reported that Israel claimed it achieved “aerial superiority” over Tehran.

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