Mumbai, June 18 (IANS) Gold and silver prices traded lower on Thursday after easing geopolitical tensions, and the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged while signalling support for additional rate hikes.

On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), gold futures (August) declined as much as 1.37 per cent or Rs 2,111 to hit an intraday low of Rs 1,51,768 as of around 11:36 am.

The yellow metal was trading at Rs 1,51,797, down 1.35 per cent or Rs 2,082. It touched an intraday high of Rs 1,52,831, down 0.68 per cent or Rs 1,048 from its previous close of Rs 1,53,879.

Meanwhile, silver futures (July) were trading at Rs 2,44,945, down Rs 6,862 or 2.73 per cent from the previous close of Rs 2,51,807.

The white metal touched an intraday low of Rs 2,44,647, down nearly 3 per cent or Rs 7,160 during the session. It recorded an intraday high of Rs 2,48,000 during the day. Earlier in the day, gold and silver opened at Rs 1,52,306 and Rs 2,48,000, respectively.

According to commodity market experts, gold and silver remained under pressure as rising US Treasury yields and a stronger dollar reduced the appeal of precious metals.

They said sentiment weakened after the US Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged while signalling support for additional rate hikes and reiterating its commitment to bringing inflation back to target.

Analysts said easing geopolitical tensions following the interim US-Iran agreement further dampened safe-haven demand.

However, silver’s losses remained limited amid expectations of strong industrial demand, supported by investments in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, data centres, renewable energy projects and energy storage systems, particularly in China, analysts added.

Similarly, in international markets, COMEX silver was trading nearly 3 per cent lower at $68.76, while COMEX gold was at $4,318.90, down more than 1 per cent.

On the oil commodities front, the international benchmark Brent crude declined 1.64 per cent to trade around $78 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 2 per cent to about $75 per barrel.

–IANS

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