NEW DELHI: Gold prices remained steady, hovering around the five-month highs on Thursday, after the US treasury yield softened. Investors are awaiting the key US economic readings later this week. The yellow metal has turned choppy in domestic markets as investors look towards the monetary policy stance of the central bank.
Focus shifts to US weekly jobless claims data later in the day, followed by monthly jobs numbers on Friday, for further clues on economic recovery and rising inflation. Despite headwinds of supply chain troubles, difficult hiring and inflationary pressures, the US economic recovery accelerated recently.
The US 10-year treasury yield slipped below 1.60 per cent, reducing the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing gold. The dollar index gave up overnight gains and was trading around 89.913 against its rivals.
Physical gold demand in India, the second-biggest bullion consumer, has weakened due to virus related restrictions. ETF buying has turned tepid. Depreciating rupee is denting the domestic demand of the precious metal.
Gold futures on MCX shed 0.05 per cent or Rs 26 at Rs 49,575 per 10 grams. Silver futures climbed 0.21 per cent or Rs 150 to Rs 72,828 per kg.
“COMEX gold trades mixed near $1908/oz after a 0.3 per cent gain yesterday. Gold has turned choppy along with the US dollar and equity market amid uncertainty about the future monetary policy stance of major central banks. ETF outflows show weak investor buying interest while concerns persist about Indian demand amid higher price and virus related restrictions,” Ravindra Rao, CMT, EPAT, VP-Head Commodity Research, Kotak Securities.
In the spot market, highest purity gold was sold at Rs 49,218 while silver was priced at Rs 71,351 on Wednesday, according to the Indian Bullion and Jewellers Association.
“Gold may remain choppy along with US dollar and equity markets. However, the general bias may be on the upside unless the US dollar recovers sharply.”
Trading strategy
“We expect gold prices to trade sideways to up for the day with COMEX Spot gold support at $1890 and resistance at $1920 per ounce. MCX Gold June futures support lies at Rs 49200 and resistance at Rs 49800 per 10 gram,” said Tapan Patel, Senior Analyst (Commodities), HDFC Securities.
Global markets
Spot gold was steady at $1,907.67 per ounce, as of 0042 GMT. On Tuesday, gold prices hit their highest level since Jan 8 at $1,916.40. US gold futures were little changed at $1,910.60 per ounce.
Silver edged 0.1 per cent lower to $28.16 per ounce, palladium rose 0.2 per cent to $2,861.65, and platinum gained 0.2 per cent at $1,192.