Gold prices rose marginally on Thursday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and escalating tensions in the Middle East, while investors await more U.S. economic data that could shed light on the Federal Reserve‘s interest rate outlook.
The April gold futures were trading at Rs 62,150 per 10 grams on the MCX at 10:13 am and were up by Rs 42 or 0.07% from Wednesday’s closing price. Meanwhile, the March Silver futures were trading at Rs 70,765 per kg and were higher by Rs 156 or 0.22% around this time.
Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,026.7 per ounce, as of 0328 GMT, after hitting its highest since February 9 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures edged 0.1% higher to $2,036.9 per ounce.
“The Fed remains cautious about rising inflation and seeks further progress towards achieving its 2% target before considering easing measures. However, the outcomes of the FOMC meeting minutes aligned with market expectations, yielding no significant surprises,” said Rahul Kalantri, VP of Commodities, Mehta Equities.
The steady trading of the dollar index tempered gains in precious metals, yet geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and volatility in global financial markets could lend support to gold and silver prices at lower levels, Kalantri said.
The dollar index extended losses for the fourth straight day, turning the greenback-priced bullion more appealing to overseas buyers.Initial jobless claims data is due at 7.00 pm, while flash U.S. manufacturing and flash U.S. services data is scheduled for 8:15 pm.”Weekly US jobless claims will be closely watched by investors; however, unless the US services and manufacturing PMIs turn out to be a significant miss, gold will find it difficult to stage a sustainable rally. The outlook remains bearish in the short term,” said Praveen Singh, AVP – Fundamental Currencies and Commodities Analyst at Sharekhan.
Minutes of the Fed’s latest policy meeting released on Wednesday showed that the bulk of policymakers were concerned about the risks of cutting interest rates too soon.
Markets are currently pricing in a 72% chance of a cut in June, according to the CME Fed Watch Tool. Lower interest rates boost the appeal of holding non-yielding bullion.
“Gold has support levels at $2012-1998 and resistance at $2039-2051, while silver has support at $22.74-21.61 and resistance at $23.08-23.22,” said Rahul Kalantri.
In terms of INR, gold finds support at Rs61,940-61,770 with resistance at Rs62,350 and Rs62,520. Silver’s support lies at Rs70,040-69,580, with resistance at Rs71,050 and Rs71,780, Kalantri said.
Elsewhere, spot platinum was up 0.3% at $885.30 per ounce, palladium rose 0.6% to $955.63 and silver gained 0.1% to $22.89 per ounce.
(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of the Economic Times)
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