MUMBAI: Commodity counters are stuck in the narrow range as today being the last day of trade and little cues are expected out of US, traders were seen relying on currency markets.
The euro was trading after it weakened against the US dollar in the previous session as uncertainty grew over a resolution to debt problems. The currency rose nearly 1% against a major currency basket. Apparently, leading commodity counters are experiencing pressure.
US crude oil futures pared losses, but remained weak after a nearly 1% decline a day earlier as the US dollar stayed strong against the euro.
NYMEX crude for April delivery was down 32 cents at $81.88 a barrel.
Adding pressure to crude was a report showing seaborne oil exports by OPEC, excluding and , will rise by 70,000 barrels per day in the four weeks to April 3, according to an analyst at consultancy Oil Movements.
OPEC is likely to continue to leave its oil output quotas unchanged at its next meeting in October, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah told on Thursday.
Gold prices hardly moved this morning, shrugging off a firmer US dollar as worries about debt problems and volatility in currencies boosted its safe-haven appeal.
Spot gold was at $1,123.80 an ounce, barely changed from New York’s notional close on Thursday, when it hit an intraday high of $1,129.05.
Bullion was about 1.6% below a 6-˝ week high near $1,150 seen in early March but was heading for its best weekly gain since mid-February. US gold futures for April delivery fell $3.40 an ounce to $1,124.10 after settling higher on Thursday.
The world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, said its holdings stood at 1,115.51 tonnes as of March 18, unchanged from the previous business day.
Base metal counters have continued to trade softer on monetary tightening concerns and US dollar gaining strength against basket of currencies. Shanghai copper is seen trading little changed after London futures dipped back below $7,500, weighed down by a firmer US dollar.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.6% to $7,486 on Thursday, but reversed direction to recover to $7,495 in late trade. The contract last stood at $7,535.00 a tonne, up $35 helped by short-covering.
The two week trend of falling copper stocks continued with another 1,400 tonnes of metal leaving warehouses, bringing total LME stocks to a two-month low of 524,175 tonnes.
Domestic commodity counters following the trend in global markets opened mixed. Crude oil, gold futures opened lower while copper started firm. The rupee has also continued to influence commodity prices.
Crude oil counter trended lower since morning. MCX crude oil futures for March settlement moved between Rs 3,739 and Rs 3,722 before retracing to current level of Rs 3,726 per barrel. Similarly, gold and silver prices moved in a narrow range.
MCX Gold for April settlement contract last quoted at Rs 16,712 per 10 grams after moving between Rs 16,751 and Rs 16,696 per 10 gram. MCX Silver May settlement contract traded 0.4% lower at Rs 26,987 per kg, after having opened the session at Rs 27,080.
Base metal counters extended gains tracking rise in Chinese metal markets. Weak cues from Shanghai dampened trading sentiments on the metal counters.
MCX copper for April settlement was last quoting 0.6% higher at Rs 343.20 per kg, after opening the session at Rs 341.70. MCX zinc March contract added 0.7% to trade at Rs 105.60 per kg.
