MCX Gold futures continue in the green, natural gas declines 2% over output increase

MCX Gold futures opened in the green on Friday and continued to remain in the green by 6:00 p.m. Earlier, weak economic data from the US had continued to lend support to the yellow metal. Both the US jobless claims and the Housing starts declined indicating the economy may be cooling off and a rate cut may be expected this year.

MCX Gold futures maturing in August were trading 0.1% higher on Friday afternoon at ₹72,665 per 10 grams at 6:00 p.m. after having hit a two-week high late on Thursday.

Metals

Metals continued to lose their shine through the session. MCX Silver futures maturing in July opened in the red and continued their downward trend, trading 1.0% lower at ₹90,604 per kg on Friday at 6:00 p.m. after having hit a high of ₹91,680 during the session.

Meanwhile, MCX Zinc futures maturing in June were trading 0.4% lower at ₹260.9 per kg. MCX Copper futures maturing in June also trended in the red, declining 1.5% at ₹848.10 per kg.

Crude Oil

Meanwhile, the MCX Crude Oil futures edged lower on Friday after having hit a high of ₹6,818 on Thursday. According to the Energy Information Administration, US crude stockpiles fell by 2.5 million barrels in the week ending June 14 to 457.1 million barrels.

MCX Crude Oil July futures were trading 0.10% higher at ₹6,803 at 6:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, the MCX Natural Gas futures maturing in June witnessed a significant sell-off during the day and were trading 0.8% lower at ₹227. The commodity’s output in the lower 48 US states rose to an average of 98.2 billion cubic feet per day in the month of June, a report stated.

Economic Data

US jobless claims fell to 238,000 last week, down from 243,000 the previous week, indicating the job market is cooling off. Housing starts, too, declined to a seasonally adjusted 1.277 million in May, below the April figure of 1.36 million. This is the lowest level since June 2020. A cooling economy acts as a precursor to a decline in inflation, thereby supporting the case for an early rate cut.

June 27: Real GDP(Third Estimate) (United States)

June 28: Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) (United States)