Crude oil futures on the national bourse continued to remain weak last week after witnessing more than a $22 fall in prices. Declining levels of demand are still in the forefront of the market.
Gold futures prices were range bound last week, as falling crude oil prices weighed on gold prices. The base metals pack traded on a mixed note as a variety of factors influenced the markets.
Gold prices fell below $900 an ounce for the first time after a month. In the initial party of the week, firm financial markets and strength in the dollar lead to a heavy sell off in precious metals.
A major factor that moved base metal prices was the dollar movement as there was a list of economic data releases in the last week.
Copper prices in the international markets have managed to hold strength around $8,000 levels on the back of news that Group Mexico has not decided a date to re-start its mining operations.
In the energy segment, weak macroeconomic numbers are certainly adding to worries that high energy prices and a softening economy are eroding fuel demand. NYMEX Oil futures touched low of $120.42 per barrel, before bouncing back to $127.89 per barrel on Thursday.
On MCX, the crude oil August contracts were declined further Rs 129 or 2.4% to trade at Rs 5,227 per barrel on Friday over previous week. Total volume was 16.49 lakh barrels while open interest was 10.98 lakh barrels.
Underlying sentiments in gold are driven by the dollar and crude oil. The August gold contracts were also down Rs 268 or 2.09% to trade at Rs 12,499 per 10 gram over the previous week. Total volume was 2,417 kg. Open interest was 2,660 kg.
In London, gold traded lower at $911 an ounce on Friday on lower crude prices and a stronger dollar. Any weakness in crude oil can weigh on gold prices in the short term, but overall long-term fundamentals are still supportive for gold.?
MCX October gold support stands at Rs 12,400/12,220 and resistance at Rs 12,690/12,970 per 10 gram,? an analyst with Angel Broking said.
The copper August contracts were largely steady at Rs 336.65 per kg on Friday over the previous week. The open interest was 9,721 tonne and volume was 16,523 tonne. Zinc the metal with weak fundamentals rose on supply-related news from China.