Retail gold prices across major Indian bullion markets held steady on Sunday, November 8, 2026, coinciding with the auspicious festival of Badi Diwali. Spot prices for 24-carat bullion maintained their ground above Rs 1,43,500 per 10 grams in top consumption centres. Alongside physical purchases driven by traditional rituals honouring the goddess Lakshmi, financial market participants prepared for the annual Muhurat trading session on the Multi Commodity Exchange, giving traders an opportunity to initiate fresh positions for the upcoming accounting year.
Schedule and Settlement Details for Muhurat Trading at MCX
Matching the long-standing customs of equity bourses like BSE and NSE, the commodity bourse MCX scheduled its special Muhurat trading window during the auspicious festival hours. The core trading session runs from 2:20 PM to 3:30 PM. This follows a preliminary pre-market session scheduled between 2:05 PM and 2:19 PM, while terminal client code modification remains permissible until 3:45 PM.
In an official regulatory notification, the MCX Clearing Corporation confirmed that trades conducted during the Sunday special session will settle on Monday, November 9. In line with the clearing body's guidelines, Daily Mark to Market and premium settlements operate on a standard T+1 banking day cycle. The clearing mechanism executes transactions by dispatching direct debit and credit instructions to designated clearing banks associated with clearing members.
Metropolitan Retail Rates Across Purity Categories
Consumer demand historically peaks around Diwali, with gold remaining an enduring symbol of wealth preservation across Indian households. On Sunday, physical prices displayed slight geographical variation, with retail counters in New Delhi recording the highest price tag nationally. In Delhi, 24-carat fine gold sold at Rs 14,360 per single gram and Rs 1,43,600 per 10 grams. Jewel-grade 22-carat gold traded at Rs 13,175 per gram and Rs 1,31,750 per 10 grams, while 18-carat gold stood at Rs 10,783 per gram and Rs 1,07,830 per 10 grams.
Across other primary metropolitan centers including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and hubs throughout Kerala, prices aligned at uniform tiers across all purities. In these markets, 24-carat bullion (99.9% purity) stood at Rs 14,357 per gram, Rs 1,43,570 per 10 grams, and Rs 14,35,700 per 100 grams. Standard 22-carat jewelry gold (91.6% purity) was quoted at Rs 13,160 per gram, Rs 1,31,600 per 10 grams, and Rs 13,16,000 per 100 grams. The more accessible 18-carat grade (75% purity) changed hands at Rs 10,768 per gram, Rs 1,07,680 per 10 grams, and Rs 10,76,800 per 100 grams.
Macroeconomic Headwinds and Overseas Market Dynamics
Domestic futures exhibited downward pressure ahead of the festive session. On Friday, MCX gold futures fell by 1.20% to settle below Rs 1,42,400 per 10 grams, while MCX silver nudged up slightly to Rs 1,84,977 per kilogram. In global spot dealings, bullion slid 0.4% overnight to hover above $4,070 per ounce, whereas spot silver gained 0.2% to trade around $51.88 per ounce, staying slightly underneath the $52 threshold.
The pullback across precious metals followed a pronounced rebound in the US dollar after robust macroeconomic indicators. The US Department of Labor's nonfarm payrolls report showed an addition of 165,000 jobs in October, surpassing the consensus projection of 65,000 by a wide margin. Simultaneously, the US unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to 4.1%, while cumulative payroll readings for the preceding two months received an upward revision of 84,000 positions. Wage growth also gathered pace, with average hourly earnings advancing by 0.4% against estimates of 0.3%.
Stronger economic metrics renewed market speculation that the Federal Reserve could implement an interest rate hike during its upcoming monetary policy meeting. Upward movement in energy commodities added further momentum to inflationary expectations, as US WTI crude oil traded near $91 per barrel and global benchmark Brent crude surpassed $98 per barrel. Despite the Friday correction, spot gold concluded the full week with gains exceeding 4%, buoyed earlier by safe-haven capital reallocations following the Democratic sweep in the US midterm elections that spurred rotation out of AI equities into defensive holdings.
