Gold, Silver Prices Drop Today: Check 22K and 24K Rates In Your City On May 23

Gold prices witnessed a slight decline on Friday also. The recent fluctuations in the bullion market are largely influenced by ongoing geopolitical tensions, particularly concerning US-Iran relations, alongside the volatility of the Indian rupee and movements in crude oil prices, Gaurav Garg, research analyst at Lemonn Markets Desk, said.

However, silver prices remained flat at Rs 2,71,000 per kilogram in the bullion market. In the international markets, spot gold fell marginally lower to $4,522.32 per ounce, while silver slipped 1 per cent to $75.87 per ounce.

“Spot gold trading lower to $4522 per ounce on Friday as despite narrowing differences between Iran and the US, nuclear and Hormuz control remain contentious issues,” Praveen Singh, head of commodities at Mirae Asset ShareKhan, said.

Meanwhile, Washington has warned that shipping through the Strait of Hormuz should remain toll-free, keeping investors cautious despite signs of diplomatic progress between the US and Iran.

Bullion prices pared some losses after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the negotiations as showing tentative progress, though he flagged Hormuz control as a major sticking point.

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?