Mcx Tips

Gold futures jumped in Asia electronic session today as the US dollar dipped as the euro-zone finance ministers and International Monetary Fund officials once again failed to reach a deal on aid for Greece.

The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six other currencies, slipped to 80.835, compared with 80.937 in late North American trade Wednesday.

Gold for December delivery are trading $7.7 at $1,731.3 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Yesterday, it ended up $4.60, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,728.20 an ounce after trading between $1,718.40 and $1,732. Comex floor trading will remain closed Thursday for the holiday and open for an abbreviated session Friday.

Gold also got a boost yesterday after the International Monetary Fund’s monthly statistics reportedly showed central banks in emerging countries increased their holdings in October.

Euro-zone concerns however continued to bother the market as the region’s finance ministers failed to agree on conditions to unlock what would be Greece’s next aid disbursement. They will meet Monday to resume negotiations, Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker said.

The data released today showed that, Chinese manufacturing activity improved for the first time in more than a year in November, the preliminary reading of a survey by HSBC showed Thursday. In October, the final reading of the HSBC China manufacturing PMI came in at 49.5. The flash, or preliminary reading, is based on about 85% to 90% of the responses in HSBC's survey.

MCX December gold futures may open today’s session near Rs 31800 levels with resistance near Rs 31870 levels.

MCX Natural Gas Future Tips

MCX Natural gas futures are trading in a thin manner today as the global prices edged up amid a mixed undertone in the Asian equities and strength in the US dollar. The commodity has been in a downward spiral in last few days and had tumbled to its two week low of $3.828 per mmbtu last week before bargain buying supported the sentiments. The counter quotes at $3.890, up 3.5 cents per barrel or nearly 1% on the day.

Natural gas has been falling down after hitting 10-month highs above $4 per mmbtu earlier in the month but failed to hold onto the watershed mark. Prices constantly slipped thereafter but it seems a rather positive US GDP data and expectations of colder weather in near term are supporting the commodity now.

Gas prices were up even as above-average temperatures in much of the US have tempered consumption. During the week ended October 24, total US gas demand fell 2.9% from the previous week, led by a drop of 4.8% in residential and commercial use, with temperatures averaging about 1 degree Fahrenheit above normal, according to latest update from the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

EIA also reported that working natural gas in underground storage increased to 3.843 trillion cubic feet as of October 19, an implied net injection of 67 billion cubic feet from the previous week, 4.1% over year-ago levels and 7% over the five-year average for that date.

The commodity has been witnessing some buying in Asian trades and the local futures might also edge up after nearing Rs 200 per mmbtu levels. The counter trades at Rs 203, down Rs 0.10 per mmbtu on the day. The open interest is up by a mild 2.2% on the day and some fresh buying could be seen in intraday moves. Prices have tested lows very much near to Rs 200 per mmtbu last week but the counter could not slip under the watershed mark.