IV:Gold futures little changed in rangebound trade; U.S. data in focus
Investing.com - Gold futures were little changed in rangebound trade during European morning hours on Tuesday, as market players looked ahead to Friday’s highly-anticipated U.S. monthly jobs report to further asses the strength of the country’s economy.
Any improvement in the U.S. economy could scale back expectations for further easing by the Federal Reserve, boosting the U.S. dollar and weighing on dollar-denominated commodities.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at USD1,600.75 a troy ounce during European morning trade, nearly flat on the day.
Prices held in a tight USD5-trading range between USD1,599.05 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,604250.
Gold prices were likely to find near-term support at USD1,590.85 a troy ounce, the low from March 25 and resistance at USD1,615.00, the high from March 22.
Gold prices drew support from weakness in the U.S. dollar, after disappointing manufacturing data on Monday raised concerns over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
The Institute of Supply Management said its U.S. manufacturing purchasing managers’ index declined to 51.3 in March, its lowest level since December, from 54.2 in February.
Analysts had expected the PMI to remain unchanged last month.
That downbeat data helped eased recent jitters the Fed would start to withdraw its super easy monetary policy.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would pump more money into the financial system.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.2% to trade at 82.72.
Gold traders now looked ahead to the release of the U.S. nonfarm payrolls employment report due Friday.
Market players were also eyeing policy meetings by the European Central Bank on Thursday.
Sentiment on the euro remained fragile amid ongoing concerns over the situation in Cyprus and ongoing political uncertainty in Italy.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for May delivery added 0.2% to trade at USD28.00 a troy ounce, while copper for May delivery rose 0.2% to trade at USD3.379 a pound.
