RTRS: OUTLOOK-India gold seen lower as dollar firms
MUMBAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - India gold futures are likely to fall during the week as a hardening dollar reduces the yellow metal's appeal as an alternative investment, analysts said.
"Book squaring and low volatility might trigger buying in dollar and thus might result in an additional selloff in gold," said Pradeep Unni, a senior research analyst at Richcomm Global Services Dmcc.
In addition, poor demand in key markets like India might add to the weakness, he added.
Demand in India, the world's biggest consumer of the commodity, has slackened. High prices are deterring buyers from making fresh purchases even as the seasonal demand for wedding jewellery winds down.
November imports stood at around 35-40 tonnes, compared with 54 tonnes in the same month a year ago. See [ID:nBOM416944]
Overseas gold recouped some of the previous week's losses on Monday as the dollar weakened and oil rose, nudging bullion up 1 percent. See [ID:nSYD402703]
"Technically gold is facing tough resistance at current levels," said Amrut Deshmukh, an analyst at Way 2 Wealth Securities.
At 5:19 p.m., the benchmark February contract MAUG9 last traded 1.79 percent higher at 12,966 per 10 grams.
Traders would closely look at U.S. data on new home sales, existing home sales and third-quarter GDP for further direction. Continued...
