Gold futures to trade cautiously next week

KUALA LUMPUR-Malaysia (May 9)  - Gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is likely to trade cautiously next week, as currency traders closely monitor the release of vital economic data by the United States and China, ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

A dealer said the precious metal would also track the movement of New York Commodity Exchange's gold futures market, which is likely to be influenced by a weaker greenback due to the anticipation of further reduction in the US interest rate by the country's Federal Reserve.

 "Weakening of the dollar makes dollar-priced gold cheaper for foreign investors and thus US gold becoming more attractive,” the dealer said.

In addition, he said, next week would also see Malaysia announcing its first-quarter gross domestic product data on Wednesday (May 13), which is projected to register the steepest quarterly drop in a decade due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has affected global growth.

The market was closed on Thursday for Wesak Day celebration.

 On a Friday-to-Thursday basis, May 2020, June 2020, July 2020 and August 2020 added 102 ticks each to RM236.95, RM239.95, RM240.00 and RM240.10 per gramme respectively.

Weekly turnover fell five lots worth RM120,080 compared with 18 lots worth RM422,400 in the previous week, while open interest was lower at 50 contracts versus 142 contracts.

BERNAMAnews