Commodity

Comstock has completed the sale of its mining assets to Mackay Precious Metals, valuing the transaction at more than $45 million. The company has received $20 million in cash and shares currently valued at about $4.5 million, with a secured second-tranche payment of $7 million due within 18 months. Comstock expects to record a gain of approximately $10 million to $12 million and will retain a 1.5% net smelter return royalty.

Gold extended gains for a fourth straight session on the MCX, rising nearly Rs 8,200 per 10 grams over four sessions as the dollar weakened, while spot gold climbed to $4,627.42 an ounce. Silver ended a three-day rise, falling 0.3% to $68.76 an ounce. Markets are now focused on upcoming US inflation data and a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.

Spot gold rose 0.7% to $4,636.34 an ounce, its highest level since May 15, after gaining more than 5% last week. Goldman Sachs said gold could rise beyond its $4,900 year-end forecast. Poland’s central bank reported its gold holdings increased to 20.6 million troy ounces in July.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is advancing a long-term bond buyback plan, saying each operation will repurchase at least an additional $2 billion of long-dated Treasuries through Nov. 4. Markets read the move as a signal aimed at containing funding costs and stabilizing the bond market. After the announcement, gold extended gains, rising 2.4% on Friday and 5.9% in total. Silver and platinum also jumped, up 8.6% and 9.3%, respectively.

HDFC Mutual Fund said it will resume subscriptions in the HDFC Gold ETF Fund of Fund from August 14, allowing lumpsum purchases and switch-ins without restrictions. Axis Mutual Fund said it will withdraw temporary limits on its gold ETF and gold fund, and will accept large-investor subscriptions above Rs 25 crores in Axis Gold ETF from August 18, 2026. Axis also said unrestricted lumpsum subscriptions and switch-ins in Axis Gold Fund will be accepted from August 18, 2026. Tata Mutual Fund and Aditya Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund have also moved to resume subscriptions in their gold-linked schemes.

International gold prices have jumped more than 16% in August, while MCX Gold Futures are up nearly 14%, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, rising safe-haven demand and seasonal buying. Dollar softness reflects growing expectations that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its rate-hiking cycle. With inflation concerns easing, pressure on bond yields has moderated, improving the appeal of non-yielding assets such as gold. Longer-term factors including reserve diversification and dedollarisation continue to underpin a bullish outlook.

Brazil’s coffee harvest is accelerating, with Cooxupe reporting 81.1% completed as of Aug 14, up 7 points from the prior week. Safras & Mercado said the Brazil 2026/27 harvest was 90% complete as of August 12, still behind last year and the five-year average. Arabica harvesting was 86%, below 95% a year earlier. ICE arabica and robusta coffee futures both settled lower on Friday.

Gold and silver prices in New Delhi rose to their highest levels in more than three months on Friday. Gold of 99.9% purity gained Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,63,500 per 10 grams, while silver climbed Rs 5,000 to Rs 2,50,000 per kilogram, marking a 15-week high. A weaker US dollar and firmer global markets helped lift safe-haven demand for precious metals.

India’s soybean oil imports could reach 62 lakh tonnes in August, setting a monthly record and running nearly 46% above the current marketing-year monthly average, the Solvent Extractors’ Association of India (SEA) said. Kharif oilseed sowing is slightly below last year overall, with soybean acreage lower while groundnut, sesame and sunflower acreage has increased. As one of the world’s largest edible oil importers, a spike in imports would directly affect India’s import bill, domestic prices and food inflation.

HKEX gold futures recorded physical delivery of 145kg on Wednesday, more than double the previous 63kg record set in December 2018, marking the contract’s highest single-day tally since its 2018 launch. The contract was relaunched on July 6 with a market-wide waiver of the US$1 per-contract trading fee, and it has averaged 9,974 contracts a day with total trading value of US$1.35 billion. On the same day, the US Treasury said it would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buyback operations for long-dated bonds, and gold rose to about US$4,540 per ounce on Friday.