Gold Prices In India Near Rs 80,000 In Many Cities; Is Yellow Metal Expensive? Latest Rates Of 24K, 22K, 18K

Gold prices in India are steady on Sunday, November 24th, ahead of the trading week that will commence on Monday, November 25th. This will be the last trading week of November, and despite a volatile month, yellow metal prices have rebounded significantly. 24K gold price in 10 grams is already nearing the Rs 80,000 mark in major cities, which also means they are closing the gap towards an all-time high of $80,560 in 10 grams. A similar trend was seen in gold prices globally as well. Does this mean, yellow metal prices are expensive?

Gold Prices In India:

24K gold price in 10 grams is at Rs 79,640 in India, while the prices were at Rs 73,000 and Rs 59,730 for 22K and 18K golds.

Notably, in major cities like Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Ayodhya, Ludhiana, Varanasi, and Mohali - 24K gold price in 10 grams is at Rs 79,790 levels, reaching near its all-time high levels.

From November 18 to November 23, 24K of 100 grams gold price skyrocketed by Rs 39,900 in 100 grams. While the price surged by Rs 3,990 for 10 grams.

MCX Gold, Silver Prices:

MCX gold futures with December expiry ended the current trading week at Rs 77,685 per 10 grams on November 22, 2024, which was its weekly high. Further, MCX silver price rose to close at Rs 90,791 per 1kg up by Rs 866 or 0.96% on November 22, after hitting an intraday high of Rs 91,213 per 1kg.

Spot Gold, US Gold Prices:

Currently, the spot gold is at $2,712.55 an ounce, which is near its all-time high of $2,790.41 an ounce. While US Gold Futures with February 2025 expiry is at $2,737.20 an ounce, also nearing its lifetime high of $2,801.80 an ounce.

Is Yellow Metal Expensive?

According to global brokerage UBS' latest report, focusing purely on these traditional macro drivers, market participants may start to get concerned that gold has become too expensive.

The brokerage added, "Our simple gold model, which uses these two factors and a measure of uncertainty (average of MOVE and VIX indices), shows that gold spot prices have been trading at a record high premium over "fair value". However, we think other aspects that cannot be captured in quantitative models have been legitimately contributing to gold's positive performance. Diversification and safe haven
flows have been key to gold's strong move higher, in our view."

Given the extent of gold's rally and the rise in its popularity this year, another concern among investors is whether or not the trade has become overly crowded. We don't think so, as per UBS.

Adding, the brokerage said, "We look at the value of gold held in ETFs and Comex as a ratio to funds' total assets and assess how this has evolved over time, paying particular attention to previous periods when gold was similarly en vogue. Currently, levels are still lower than during the COVID pandemic and well below the peak in 2012/2013 during gold's previous multi-year bull run."

On the near term, Joni Teves, Precious Metals Strategist, UBS Investment Bank said, "In the near term, we think there is scope for gold prices to consolidate, albeit with an upside bias to end the year modestly higher than current spot levels, with our end-2024 target at $2700. This would correspond with markets contemplating the macro outlook for the year ahead as we slowly get more insights on what US policies are probably going to look like," said Joni Teves, UBS Investment Bank's Precious Metals Strategist."