Volatile Gold Market: Impact of US Jobless Claim & Fed's Policy, Quoted Around $1,712

The global gold market gained momentum today, although the economic situation does not seem to be positive for the yellow metal The US Federal Reserve, the US central bank is expected to hike its interest rate by around 75bps, to control inflation. However, crude oil also lost traction today in the early trading hours which led to a marginally bullish gold market, at around $1712/oz. Additionally, today, the US Labor Department reported that weekly jobless claims have increased from 7,000 to 251,000, up from the previous week's unrevised estimation of 244,000 claims, which has missed expectations.

Neils Christensen told Kitco News, "According to consensus forecasts, economists were expecting to see jobless claims fall to around 240,000. Falling momentum in the U.S. labor market is creating further selling pressure on the U.S. dollar, which is pushing gold prices into neutral territory. This is the third-week initial jobless claims have missed expectations. Claims have risen higher for seven consecutive weeks. The gold market continues to push higher following the disappointing employment data." However, volatility in the gold market is expected to remain this month.

However, in India, the gold market has been significantly down on July 21. The 22-carat gold rate is quoted at around Rs. 46,000/10 grams, and 24-carat gold rate is quoted at around Rs. 50,180/10 grams, falling by around Rs. 400-440/10 grams.

Today, the Comex gold futures were quoted at $1,712.90/oz, gaining by only 0.74%, from the last trading day. Yesterday it was last quoted at $1,700.20/oz. The yellow metal fell by 6.75% this year in the futures market. The spot gold prices were last quoted at $1715.90/oz, gaining by 1.09%, from the last trading day. The US Dollar index quoted at 106.96, falling by 0.13%. In India, the Mumbai Commodity Exchange (MCX) gold in August future was quoted at Rs. 50431/10 grams, surging by 0.41%, from the last trading day.

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	46,000/-	50,180/-
Hyderabad	46,000/-	50,180/-
Kerala	46,000/-	50,180/-
Delhi	46,000/-	50,180/-
Kolkata	46,000/-	50,180/-
Bangalore	46,070/-	50,250/-
Chennai	46,300/-	50,500/-