Comex gold intraday

Gold prices closed moderately lower yesterday, as a recovery in the dollar brought about profit booking in the bullion following the previous day’s rally.



Dollar gained on profit booking in the Euro, after the European currency rose to a new record high against the greenback earlier in the day.



Among the economic data released Thursday, initial jobless claims in the US fell 53,000 to 357,000 in the week ended April 5, as reported by the Labor Department. But the four-week average of initial claims rose by 2,500 to 378,250.



Also, continuing jobless claims rose 3,000 to 2.94 million, the highest since July 2004, for the week ending March 29. The four-week moving average of continuing jobless claims increased 36,500 to 2.9 million.



In a separate release, the US Commerce Department revealed the nation's trade deficit expanded unexpectedly by 5.7% to $62.3 billion in February.



As expected, the European Central Bank left the interest rates unchanged, while the Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 5 percent.



The International Monetary Fund (IMF) proposal to sell 403.3 metric tons of gold from its reserves, which is currently valued at more than $13 billion, weighed on the traders’ sentiments in the bullion.



International spot gold traded in the range $939.40 - $922.10 and last quoted at $928.40 ($933.80).



The minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting held in March gave a downbeat assessment of the US economy, leaving the possibility of further cuts in US interest rates intact. The minutes also showed that many board members believed a recession in the first half of 2008 was likely amid declining economic growth and financial market stress.



The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) pending home sales index for February fell 1.9 percent to 84.6 from 86.2 in the previous month.



According to the release from US Labor Department last week, non-farm payrolls fell by an estimated 80,000 in March.



Also, the unemployment rate in the US rose to 5.1% in March, the highest since September 2005.

Crude oil May in NYMEX traded in the range $112.20 – 108.75 and settled at $110.02 ($110.87).

Crude oil prices had risen sharply on Thursday, after the weekly inventory update from US Energy Department showed a surprise rise in the nation’s crude inventories. As per the report, US crude inventories declined by 3.2 million barrels during the week ended April 4. The broad expectation had been an increase in the stockpiles.

OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri on Sunday had over-ruled an immediate hike in the OPEC oil output. He also played down the chances that OPEC would hold an extraordinary meeting before its next scheduled gathering in September.

Medium term outlook (Spot Gold)

Weak below $952; supports are $928, $908, $888; resistances $969, $990.



Last day DGCX Gold June traded in the range $943.30 – $925.70 and closed at $931.40 ($937.30).



DGCX Gold June



TECHNICAL OUTLOOK (Intra-day)

GOLD (June) - Bullish above $ 935.00; bearish below $ 930.50

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