Gold prices declined to Rs 52,170 per 10 gram on August 14 as participants trimmed their positions as seen by the open interest.

The precious metal turned choppy and volatile after hitting $2,000/ounce on optimism around COVID-19 vaccine, rebound in the dollar, and rising US treasury yield to end the week with a decline of 3.85 percent on COMEX.

The bullion metal lost Rs 2,562, or 4.68 percent, for the week on MCX as investors booked profit.

Weak prospect of further stimulus as the US jobless claims fell below 1 million last week for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US also weighed on the price.

Gold holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund fell by 3.8 tonnes to 1,248.29 tonnes.

In the futures market, gold for October delivery touched an intraday high of Rs 52,797 and a low of Rs 51,840 per 10 gram on the MCX.

So far in the current series, the precious metal has touched a low of Rs 45,596 and a high of Rs 56,191.

Gold delivery for October contract declined Rs 760, or 1.44 percent, to settle at Rs 52,170 per 10 gram with a business turnover of 15,280 lots. The same for the December contract edged lower Rs 725, or 1.36 percent, to Rs 52,400 per 10 gram with a turnover of 2,163 lots.

The value of October and December’s contracts traded during the day was Rs 7,603.24 crore and Rs 362.77 crore, respectively.

The spot gold/silver ratio currently stands at 73.58 to 1, which means the amount of silver required to buy one ounce of gold.

Similarly, Gold Mini contract for September eased Rs 718, or 1.35 percent, at Rs 52,430 per 10 gram on a business turnover of 8,301 lots.

The yellow metal is likely to trade sideways in the short-term as it tracks the movement of US treasury yields and US dollar for any further move.

Spot gold settled down $9.15 at $1,944.49 an ounce on Friday in London trading.