IGI Logo

Bullion Outlook

• Comex gold prices declined 0.25% on Thursday amid hawkish comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell. US dollar index surged after Mr Powell said a 50-bps interest rate hike is on the table

• Further, improved jobless claims data from the US weighed on bullion prices. The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits slipped to 184,000 from 186,000 for the week ended April 16 due to robust labour demand

• MCX gold prices are expected to trade with a negative bias for the day on expectations of aggressive monetary policy by US Fed. MCX gold prices likely to correct towards 20 day moving average (| 52,125) for the day, below which, it may get further dragged down towards | 51,600 levels in the coming days.

Base Metal Outlook

• LME copper prices rebounded almost 1.0% on Thursday amid worries over supply disruptions from Peru and Chile’s copper mine

• BHP Group cut its annual copper production outlook on Thursday as operations at its Escondida project in Chile took a hit over protests by workers and environmental activist

• However, consistent increase in LME inventories and disappointing Philadelphia manufacturing data from the US capped further gains in copper prices. Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index dropped to 17.6 in April 2022 compared to 27.40 levels in the preceding month

• MCX Copper prices are expected to trade in the consolidation range of | 810 to 830 levels for the day due to supply disruptions. However, rising dollar index and slowing factory order activities are expected to weigh on industrial metal prices. Additionally, market participants will remain cautious ahead of manufacturing PMI data from the US

Energy Outlook

• WTI crude oil prices advanced 1.25% on concerns about tight supply as European Union countries are considering a ban on Russian oil

• Further, Opec told the IMF steering committee on Thursday that the surge in oil prices was largely due to the Ukraine crisis, signalling that the producer group would not take further action to pump more oil

• US natural gas prices declined 0.36% on Thursday after the US EIA reported that utilities pulled 53 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas over the last week, which was higher than previous week withdrawal from the storage

• MCX crude oil prices are expected to trade with a positive bias due to lower production from Libya. MCX crude oil price is holding support at 50 day moving average, which is around | 7,750. As long as it sustains above this level, it is likely to retest | 8050 levels for the day

To Read Complete Report & Disclaimer Click Here

https://secure.icicidirect.com/Content/StaticData/Disclaimer.html

Above views are of the author and not of the website kindly read disclaimer