Gold will continue to be under pressure with investors cutting their holdings in exchange-traded funds on hopes of recovery in the economy.
A US data showing that more people registered for unemployment did not change the yellow metal’s direction on Thursday, sending signals that the bears continue to hold sway over the market.
Crucial data late in the evening on the jobs market in the US, besides Europe retail sales data hold further key to the precious metal’s direction.
In early Asian trade, spot gold quoted lower at $1,550.89 an ounce, while gold for delivery in June ruled at $1,549.40.
In the domestic market on Thursday, gold for jewellery (99.5 per cent purity) slipped to Rs 28,985 for 10 gm, while pure gold fell to Rs 29,120.
Gold fell on Thursday despite a slump in the rupee against the dollar. Any fall in the Indian currency against the greenback makes import of commodities such as gold, crude oil and vegetable oils dearer.
Brent, NYMEX crude
Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (NYMEX) crude are expected to cool as inventories in the US are up at a 22-year high. In early trade, Brent crude May contracts slid to $106.52 a barrel and NYMEX crude fell to $93.42.
The oils and oilseeds complex could be swayed more by the currency movement than any other factor. However, any rise in prices could be curbed by the bearish trend in the global market.
Concerns over demand falling for soyameal in China following the outbreak of bird flu put pressure on soyabean too. Higher stocks and record crop in South America, too, are adding to the pressure.
Soyabean, crude palm oil
In Asia’s electronic trading of Chicago Board of Trade products, soyabean for delivery in May was down at $13.64 a bushel. On Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, crude palm oil for delivery in June slipped to 2,392 ringgit ($777) a tonne on Thursday.
Corn, wheat prices
The grains complex, too, will head south as talk of Chinese buying US corn (industrial maize) saw no proof, while the bird flu incidents too raised fears over demand for feed dropping. Wheat, on the other hand, is not seeing much demand either.
On CBOT, wheat May contracts fell to $6.94 a bushel and corn contracts for the same month to $6.30 a bushel.