Gold price today: Yellow metal hits 15-month low amid flat global benchmarks

Gold prices touched a 15-month low on Friday as global benchmarks remained flat weighed on by the near two-decade high US dollar. Silver too hit a two-year low.

MCX gold August futures fell 0.1 percent to touch Rs 50,190 per 10 grams as of 11:40 am. Silver was half a percent down at Rs 54,780 per kilogram on the last count.

Gold prices have reported a decline of 8 percent in the last one month, while silver prices decreased 17 percent in past month.

Ravindra Rao, VP-Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities, said, “Amid other factors, gold is also pressurised by concerns about Chinese consumer demand, correction across commodities and continuing ETF outflows. General bias may be on the downside unless we see substantial correction in the US dollar index.”

Global oil benchmarks edged higher on Friday amid prospects of a less aggressive US rate hike.

Indian equity indices made a gap-up start amid largely positive cues across other global equities. The rupee opened at a record low of 79.94 against the US dollar after closing at 79.88 in the previous session.

The dollar Index — which gauges the strength in the greenback against six peers — maintained its ground and hovered near a two-decade high.