Gold futures ended higher on Thursday as the dollar weakened against a basket of major currencies after a 10-day winning streak and investors took the opportunity to buy bullion as a hedge against political uncertainty in the United States and Europe. Yellow metal prices further improved on mixed economic data and geopolitical tensions. New residential construction in the US pulled back in the month of January, according to a report released by the Commerce Department, although the report also showed a jump in building permits. Housing starts fell by 2.6 percent to an annual rate of 1.246 million in January. The Labour Department reported a slight increase in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week ended February 11th. Initial jobless claims edged up to 239,000. Moreover, weakness n equities and a decline in Treasury yields combined to lift investment demand for the metal.
Crude oil futures recovered from the intraday lows to post modest gains on Thursday, following reports OPEC could extend its output-cut agreement to non-members amid concerns of a surge in U.S. crude and shale production. Although OPEC has achieved 92% compliance with a plan to shrink output, the cartel may have to increase the pace of cuts and extend the agreement beyond June. Meanwhile, Energy Information Administration (EIA) has said that it remains to seen whether crude can hold onto recent gains, as US oil inventories have risen sharply in the past few weeks, with crude and US gasoline inventories hitting all-time records last week.
Copper futures ended lower on Thursday, even though industrial metals got supported by a strike at BHP Billiton's Escondida mine in Chile and a lack of permits for exports from Freeport McMoRan's Grasberg mine in Indonesia. Also metal got support from the expectation of stronger demand in top consumer China, where banks extended 2.03 trillion yuan in net new yuan loans in January, the second-highest monthly tally on record.
Technical Level
Gold
Support at 29240 and Resistance at 29500
Close below 29240 will take to 29050---28900 else it could test it's resistance level of 29500 again.
Further upside rally will see only close above 29500.
Trade in a range with levels only
Silver
Support at 42400 and Resistance at 43150
Break and sustain above 43150 will take it to 43600---43900+ and then to 44500+ mark else could touch its support level of 42400 again.
Fresh selling can be initiated below 42400
Crude Oil
Support at 3520 and Resistance at 3600
Traders can trade in a range with strict stop loss and wait for confirmation.
Anything seems will update.
Copper
Support at 396 and resistance at 402---406.
Close below 396 will see more downside panic till 393---389---386 mark else it could test it's resistance again.
Trade in a range with levels only
More will update soon!!
