IV:Gold futures edge lower after previous day’s strong gains
Investing.com - Gold futures edged lower in rangebound trade on Thursday, with investors hesitant to extend the previous session’s strong gains as bearish chart signals remained intact.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery traded at USD1,469.15 a troy ounce during European morning hours, down 0.3% on the day.
Comex gold prices held in tight trading range between USD1,467.55 a troy ounce, the daily low and a session high of USD1,474.85 a troy ounce.
Gold prices were likely to find support at USD1,439.75 a troy ounce, the low from May 1 and near-term resistance at USD1,487.15, the high from May 3.
Gold futures rose more than 1.5% on Wednesday to hit a high of USD1,475.55 a troy ounce, amid indications of surging demand for the precious metal in China, the world's second largest gold consumer.
However, investors were hesitant to enter the market as the precious metal continued to trade below the key psychological USD1,500-level, indicating chart signals remain bearish.
Gold prices rose to a two-week high of USD1,487.15 a troy ounce on May 3, nearly erasing all of its losses following the massive sell-off in April. Comex gold fell to a 27-month low of USD1,322.25 an ounce on April 16.
Meanwhile, official data released earlier showed that consumer prices in China rose 2.4% in April from a year earlier, above expectations for a 2.3% increase and accelerating from a 2.1% rate of increase in March.
Gold is considered a hedge against inflation risk, and gold prices tend to keep in step with consumer price increases.
On Wednesday, data showed that China's gold imports from Hong Kong surged to a record high of 223.52 tonnes in March, up from 97.11 tonnes in February.
April’s data could show another all-time high, after a rush in physical buying in the country emerged following the sharp sell-off last month.
China is the world's second largest buyer after India.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for July delivery rose 0.35% to trade at USD24.01 a troy ounce, while copper for July delivery tumbled 1.1% to trade at USD3.333 a pound.
Copper prices came under pressure as the faster-than-expected increase in China’s inflation rate dampened hopes policy makers in Beijing could introduce fresh easing measures to boost economic growth in the world’s largest copper consumer.
