The BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday plunged about 275 points to close at 25,246 on across-the-board selling as costlier oil due to rising conflict in Iraq threatens to hurt the India economy.
The online gold futures trade on the National Multi Commodity Exchange of India will be launched by Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Sharad Yadav in New Delhi on Friday.
Crude oil volumes on the MCX platform touched a record level of 10.19 million barrels on Wednesday because of increased participation from investors amid high volatility in global crude prices. Although, there was a sharp fall in crude oil prices on Wednesday, but volumes remained upbeat, experts said, adding that prices were below $130 per barrel.
Gold gained Rs 50 and touched a new peak of Rs 16,850 per 10 gram.
India's Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar has predicted that the 'oil bubble' will burst soon.\n\n
They prefer foreign markets owing to comparatively lower margins than Indian exchanges.
Oil prices rose to a two-year high on Tuesday as supplies remained choked off from strikebound Venezuela and the looming threat of war in Iraq continued to stoke fears of disruptions to Middle East crude flows.
Forex dealers attributed the fall to increased demand for the dollar.
Costlier oil due to rising conflict in Iraq threatens to hurt the India economy that is already battling price rise and slowing growth.
Oil sank to the lowest level in a month after shedding all of its gains from the US-Iran clash as traders waited to see whether any further hostilities will disrupt exports from the East Asia.
Gold prices staged a smart rebound to surpass the psychologically important Rs 28,000 milestone.
The rupee on Monday ended lower by 23 paise to close at an over two-week low of 67.31 against the US currency.
The S&P BSE Sensex closed 318 points at 24,455 and the Nifty50 shed 99 points to end at 7,438.
Bullion may settle with limited upside potential
Dealers expect prices to fall further, owing to an impending rate hike in the US
The rot is is not limited to Chitra Ramkrishna and the yogi, observed Debashis Basu.
'The pride of the devoted Seinfeld fan is that he happens to love a show that doesn't take his love for granted, so that even on repeat viewings he is never really sure what directions an episode might take,' observes Sreehari Nair.
A common factor that binds all these men is greed.