Gold, Silver Prices Drop Today: Check 22K and 24K Rates In Your City On May 20

In the international market, spot gold was down 0.3% at $4,467.59 per ounce, as of 0233 GMT. In the previous session, bullion hit its lowest level since March 30. US gold futures for June delivery lost 0.9% to $4,471.10.

The dollar hovered at a six-week high, making greenback-priced bullion more expensive for holders of other currencies. Benchmark 10-year US Treasury yields were steady at a more than one-year high, raising the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold.

US signals on Iran remained mixed, with US President Donald Trump warning Washington may still need to strike Tehran, while Vice President JD Vance said both sides were making progress and did not want a return to conflict.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Anna Paulson said the current level of interest rates is appropriate for the moment, putting downward pressure on inflation at a time when price pressures remain elevated.

She, however, said it was “healthy” that investors had begun considering scenarios where rates might need to rise.

The US Federal Reserve will avoid cutting rates this year, according to most economists polled by Reuters who largely pushed long-held calls for reductions into next year on hopes the current inflation flare-up is temporary.

Investors are waiting for minutes from the Fed’s April policy meeting, due later in the day, to gauge the US central bank’s monetary policy outlook.

Meanwhile, last week, PM Modi appealed to people to avoid buying gold for a year, in order to save forex reserves.

Following this, the government on Wednesday hiked import duty on gold and silver to 15 per cent to curb non-essential imports amid the West Asia crisis which has put pressure on forex reserves.

Effective May 13, import duty on gold and silver has been increased from 6 per cent to 15 per cent and that on platinum has been raised from 6.4 per cent to 15.4 per cent. Consequential changes have also been made to other items such as gold/silver dore, coins, findings, etc.

On May 16, the Centre has tightened import rules for certain categories of silver bars by changing their import status from “Free” to “Restricted” with immediate effect, in a move that comes amid rising concerns over India’s import bill, pressure on the rupee, and global uncertainty linked to the ongoing West Asia crisis.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, issued a notification on Saturday, amending the import policy for specific categories of silver covered under Chapter 71 of the Indian Trade Classification (ITC) Harmonised System (HS) 2022 import policy schedule.

Under the revised policy, import of silver bars — containing 99.9 per cent or more silver by weight (ITC HS Code 71069221) and ‘Bar—Other’ categories (ITC HS Code 71069229) — which were earlier freely importable subject to RBI regulations, will now be classified as “Restricted”.

Certain categories of silver imports have also been brought under Reserve Bank of India regulations.

What Factors Affect Gold Prices In India?