MUMBAI: As expected commodity witnessed a muted trade so far, as investor’s resorted to selective picking ahead of key economic data release from the jobs data and its implications on the currency movement has been causing lot of flickers in the markets lately.
After a flurry of non-supportive data, the markets are now hoping to get some insight into the economy from US payroll and factory data to be released later today.
US nonfarm payrolls are expected to have increased by 8,000 in January, the second monthly gain since the recession started in December 2007, while factory order expected to have grown as slower pace.
Negative headwinds are currently weighing on most commodity counters. US crude oil futures dropped below $77 a barrel on Thursday, as traders awaited economic data this week to gauge the health of the economy and future oil demand potential.
NYMEX crude for March delivery was almost flat at $76.93 a barrel, after slipping 25 cents on Wednesday, when data showed crude oil stocks rose last week much more than forecast on higher imports and lower demand by refiners curbing operations.
High winds and rough seas caused pilots to stop moving ships into and out of the key oil port of Houston late on Wednesday, the US Coast Guard said.
Gold prices inched up on Thursday, keeping a bearish tone as investor’s cautiously awaited jobs data later this week that could further boost the US dollar, which would undermine bullion's appeal as a currency hedge.
Spot gold was down marginally at $1,107.00 an ounce, compared with New York’s notional close of $1,108.85. Spot gold rose to a peak of $1,124.45 on Wednesday, it’s highest since January 20.
US gold futures for April delivery eased 0.5% to $1,106.20 an ounce, compared with $1,112 an ounce on the COMEX division of NYMEX.
Gold turned lower on Wednesday, snapping a two-day winning streak as a weak euro against the US dollar amid fiscal worries in euro-zone countries weighed down on sentiment.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings eased 0.14% to 1,110.34 tonnes as of February 3, down 1.58 tonnes from the previous business day.
ETF Securities said total assets of its four precious metals exchange-traded products, namely physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium, now exceeded $1 billion. The company launched its silver ETF, its first product, in July.
Base metals fell on Wednesday amid renewed concerns over the outlook for global economic recovery while crude oil prices weakened as activity by US refineries dropped to a record low.
In Asia, copper prices have recovered marginally as previous days decline in price on the London Metal Exchange (LME), provided opportunity for bargain buying as well as for short covering.
Copper skidded to a three-month low, down 4% to $6,545 a tonne while aluminium fell 2% at $2,077 a tonne. The contract last traded at $6,620 a tonne, up $25.
Among the other base metals, lead dropped 4.4% to $2,023 a tonne while zinc fell 3.2% to $2,090 a tonne and nickel lost 0.2% at $18,240 a tonne. But tin ended flat at $16,450 a tonne.
The domestic commodity maintained steady declining trend following the global cues.
On MCX, crude oil contract for near-month settlement was last quoting 1% lower at Rs 3,540 a barrel, not far from its early low of Rs 3,535. The contract started the session at Rs 3,565.
MCX Gold for February settlement opened lower at Rs 16,530 per 10 gram. After a brief rise towards Rs 16,548, the contract retraced to current level of Rs 16,500 per 10 grams.
MCX Silver March settlement contract traded 0.4% lower at Rs 25,445 per kg, after having opened the session at Rs 25,577.
Base metal counters have also opened flat. Copper strengthened, leading the entire metal complex higher.
MCX copper for February settlement traded 0.4% higher at Rs 304.75 per kg. MCX zinc February contract retraced from highs and was last quoting 0.7% higher at Rs 97.25 a kg.
