MUMBAI: India gold futures traded flat on Thursday as pressure from a strong rupee was offset by continuing physical domestic demand, with investors awaiting the non-farm payrolls data for direction, analysts said.
The most-traded gold February contract on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) was 0.11 percent higher at 16,883 rupees per 10 grams at 10:54 a.m.
The Indian rupee surged to its highest level in more than 15 months, buoyed by the dollar's broad weakness globally and following gains in other regional peers, with further gains expected.
The domestic spot market has seen a continuous flow of orders since the start of the week on appreciation in the local currency, which made the dollar-quoted asset cheaper.
"The bias for the day is little bearish, downside could be seen till 16,725/16,745 (rupees), while 16,945/16,950 could be a strong cap," said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director, Commtrendz Research.
Open interest for February gold on MCX was at 17,144 lots, down from 17,269 a day earlier.
Gold may trade in the range of 16,786-16,949 rupees, said Krishna Reddy, an analyst with Way 2 Wealth Securities.
The non-farm payrolls data to be released on Friday is expected to shape expectations for when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start tightening its ultra-loose monetary policy, which could set the direction of the dollar.
