Dollar gains strength amidst changing geo-political equations

Hyderabad : Amidst rapidly changing geo-political equations where US diplomacy is seemingly scoring higher over other countries, particularly China and Russia, dollar gained further strength during the week ended Saturday.

Consequently, New York gold declined and closed at $1,734.60 (per Ounce) while silver followed the suit and closed at $ 26.70 (per Ounce). Platinum and palladium too declined and closed at $ 1,181 (per Ounce) and $ 2,229 (per Ounce) respectively.

Other economic parameters remained moderate. Brent closed at $ 64.42 (per barrel) while Crude MCX oil was quoted at Rs 4, 603 (per barrel). While Gold MCX stood at Rs 45, 767 (per 10 grms), MCX Silver closed at Rs 67, 475 (per kg), Copper MCX closed at Rs 703.50 (per kg).

Sensex and Nifty 50 closed at 49099.99 and 14529.15 points. Leading foreign currencies' exchange rates were, US $: Rs 73.60, British Pound: Rs 102.48, Euro: Rs 88.85, Singapore $: Rs 55.24, Swiss Franc: Rs 81.02, Australian $: Rs 56.71, Saudi Riyal: Rs 19.62, New Zealand Dollar: Rs 53.24, Kuwaiti Dinar: Rs 243.03, Omani Rial: Rs 191.10 and UAE Dirham: Rs 20.04, Japanese Yen: Rs 0.69, Hong Kong Dollar: Rs 9.49.

In local markets, standard gold (24 carats) depreciated by Rs 600 and closed at Rs 46, 580 (per 10 gms). Ornamental gold too, followed the suit and was quoted in the range of Rs 42, 600 – 42,700 on the closing day. Silver (0.999) declined by Rs 1,300 and closed at Rs 72, 500 (per kg).