MUMBAI: Gold futures edged lower on Wednesday morning weighed by a stronger rupee, which makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper, as investorswaited U.S. jobs data on Friday for direction, analysts said.
The most-traded April gold contract was 0.27 percent lower at 16,709 rupees per 10 grams at 10:48 am
The rupee rose for a second straight day rising to more-than-one-week high on the back of a 1-percent gain in the sharemarket early and tracking higher regional peers.
"Gold could undergo a phase of consolidation before a move up or down, support could be seen at 16,450/16,500," said Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, director, Commtrendz Research.
Economists polled by Reuters are looking for a slim gain in US payrolls in January, though it is not expected to be enough to put a dent in the 10 percent unemployment rate.
"Gold might trade sideways and could trade in the range of 16,710-16,800 rupees," said Aurobinda Prasad, head of research, Karvy Comtrade.
Open interest for April gold on MCX was at 13,505 lots, down from 13,664 a day earlier.
