Gold traded with a slight uptick on Friday helped by a slip in the dollar index (DXY) and US bond yields after decline continued on softer economic data. The lower-than-estimated retail sales have once again left Street confused as to which way the economy is headed. A rate cut expectation will likely be the key driver for bullion in the near term.
Bullion traded in the red in the opening trade today with MCX April gold futures trading at Rs 61,661 per 10 grams, up by Rs 39 or 0.06% while the March Silver contracts were trading at Rs 71,272 per kg, lower by Rs 151 or 0.21%.
The cues from international markets were positive around this time. On the Comex, gold futures were trading at $2,016.50 per troy ounce, up by $1.60 or 0.08%, while Silver futures were hovering at $23.025 per troy ounce, higher by $0.074 or 0.320%.
The recent lackluster trade has been on the back of a stronger dollar index (DXY) which has appreciated by 0.27% over the past five trading sessions. Today, it was hovering around the 104.39 mark, down by 0.10 points or 0.09%.
On Thursday, MCX Gold April contract closed at Rs 61,627, up by Rs 5 or 0.01% while the March Silver futures settled at Rs 71,110, down by Rs 11 or 0.02%.
“Gold and silver prices closed on a positive note, rebounding from recent selling pressure and spurred by a weaker-than-expected US retail sales report. January’s US retail sales contracted by 0.8% compared to December, marking the largest decline since March 2023,” Rahul Kalantri, Vice President, Commodities at Mehta Equities said, attributing this to the plunge in the dollar index and US 10-year bond yields.“For the MCX gold contract, support is at Rs 61,440-61,270 while resistance is at Rs 61,780-Rs61,920. As for the Silver contract, support lies at Rs 70,540-69,980 while resistance is at Rs 71,750-Rs 72,380,” Kalantri said.Gold is on its way to having its largest drop in two months after some inconsistent economic data from the US made it unclear what the Federal Reserve might do next about interest rates, Neha Qureshi, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at Anand Rathi Commodities & Currencies said.
Earlier in the week, gold’s price dropped when inflation was reported higher than expected but went back up above $2,000 when data on retail sales and job claims came weaker than predicted, she said.
The daily chart for MCX April Gold has shown a breakdown from its upward channel formation, signalling a bearish trend and presently it is trading beneath the 21-day and 50-day Double Exponential Moving Averages, which are now serving as barriers, Qureshi said. She sees resistance at Rs 62,100-62,400 while support at Rs 61,000-60,650.
Intraday Trading Strategy by Neha Qureshi
– Sell MCX April Gold futures at Rs 61,600 with a stop loss of Rs 62,000 and a price target of Rs 61,000.
– Buy MCX March Silver futures at Rs 71,100 with a stop loss of Rs 70,100 and a price target of Rs 73,100.
The price of gold in major physical bullion markets like Delhi, Ahmedabad and other cities is Rs 62,500 per 10 grams while that of 1 kg of Silver is Rs 71,500. Click to know more
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
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