Gold Price Gained By Rs. 370/10 Grams, On Dec 14, Inflation Worries Intensifying

Gold rates in India hiked significantly after one week today. Today, on December 14, 22 carat gold rates are quoted at Rs. 47,150/10 grams and 24 carat gold rates are quoted at Rs. 48,150/10 grams in India. India imports major of its gold reserve from foreign markets, hence the rates in the domestic markets are dependent on global prices. The first half of December has been a good time for common buyers to invest in gold. The rates can continue to rise globally, due to inflationary concerns.

In the USA, the inflation rate has reached 6.8% in November, which is the highest in the past 40 years. Earlier, when inflation reached 30 years high, gold rates gained sharply, as a hedge against inflation. But in this month gold did not react very prominently, expecting a rigorous monetary policy to restrict inflation from the reappointed Fed Chair Jerome Powell. But, in this month, the Fed has failed to give one adequate monetary policy against inflation, and gold rates are anticipated to rise now.

Inflation concerns finally started to hit investors and traders yesterday, second half. Gold rates gained marginally in the global markets. Michael Hewson, the chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, earlier told CNBC, "In the short- to medium-term, gold's not going anywhere until we get an idea of how much the Fed accelerates tapering and whether or not they are particularly hawkish in their statement." Additionally, in an interview program, Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures commented, "The fact that no one is expecting a rate increase this week by any central bank is lending some support to gold, and unless the Fed announces immediate rate hikes next quarter, gold could be over $1,800 by the year-end."

At present, the US Fed is tapering its monthly asset purchases by $15 billion. There are also expectations that the tapering timeline can be accelerated. Analyst Gary Wagner recently told Kitco News, "Our technical studies indicate that gold closed above minor resistance, which occurs at $1784.90, based on the 78% retracement of the rally, which began on November 3 and concluded on November 16. That rally took gold prices from a low of $1758 to a high of $1879. Currently, we see the first level of support at $1770, with major support at $1758, the low achieved on November 3."

Gold rates are quoted differently, daily. Today's gold rates in major Indian cities follow:

City	22 carat (INR/10 Grams)	24 carat (INR/10 Grams)
Mumbai	47,150/-	48,150/-
Delhi	47,400/-	51,710/-
Bangalore	45,250/-	49,360/-
Hyderabad	45,250/-	49,360/-
Chennai	45,380/-	49,500/-
Kerala	45,250/-	49,360/-
Kolkata	47,400/-	50,100/-

Today the Comex gold futures fell only by 0.04% and were quoted at $1785.5/oz, while the spot gold prices fell by 0.26%, and were quoted at $1783.3/oz till last traded, reached $1790/oz at some point. Yesterday Comex gold futures closed at $1786.3/oz. Additionally, the US dollar index in the spot market also surged to 96.41, gained by 0.04%. Mirroring the same global gold rate trend, in India, the Mumbai MCX gold in February future quoted at Rs. 48,206/10 grams, fell by 0.20%, till last traded.