Gold futures rose in the early part of Friday’s Asian session, extending an impressive gain seen in Thursday’s U.S. session.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery jumped 0.61% to USD1,470.85 per troy ounce in Asian trading Friday after settling up 2.27% at USD1,455.95 a troy ounce in U.S. trading on Thursday. That was good for the yellow metal’s best one-day performance in 10 months.
Gold futures were likely to test support USD1,403.55 a troy ounce, Monday's low, and resistance at USD1,494.95, the high from April 15.
Gold bugs were encouraged to do some buying following some solid U.S. jobs data. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 16,000 to 339,000 last week. The previous week’s number was revised up to 355,000 from 352,000. The less volatile four-week moving average fell by 4,500 to 357,500.
The jobs data helped buoy a decent day for U.S. equities while fostering increased risk appetite, which benefited bullion and other commodities. Physical demand for gold in the U.S. and Asia has been robust this week and that has helped gold recover some of the ground lost in the savage two-day plunge seen last week.
There has been speculation hedge funds and other market participants have been increasing their long exposure to bullion, sensing last week’s decline was overdone. Some traders have even been so bold as to load up on shares of downtrodden gold miners.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for June delivery jumped 0.61% to USD1,470.85 per troy ounce in Asian trading Friday after settling up 2.27% at USD1,455.95 a troy ounce in U.S. trading on Thursday. That was good for the yellow metal’s best one-day performance in 10 months.
Gold futures were likely to test support USD1,403.55 a troy ounce, Monday's low, and resistance at USD1,494.95, the high from April 15.
Gold bugs were encouraged to do some buying following some solid U.S. jobs data. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 16,000 to 339,000 last week. The previous week’s number was revised up to 355,000 from 352,000. The less volatile four-week moving average fell by 4,500 to 357,500.
The jobs data helped buoy a decent day for U.S. equities while fostering increased risk appetite, which benefited bullion and other commodities. Physical demand for gold in the U.S. and Asia has been robust this week and that has helped gold recover some of the ground lost in the savage two-day plunge seen last week.
There has been speculation hedge funds and other market participants have been increasing their long exposure to bullion, sensing last week’s decline was overdone. Some traders have even been so bold as to load up on shares of downtrodden gold miners.
Oil falls on profit taking
Oil futures traded lower in the early part of Friday’s Asian session as traders looked to book profits after crude turned in a solid performance during Thursday’s U.S. session.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for June delivery fell 0.32% to USD93.34 per barrel in Asian trading Friday after settling up 1.07% at USD92.41 a barrel on Thursday. That was crude’s highest settling price in New York in two weeks,
Traders had reason to bet on oil from the long side Thursday following some decent jobs data. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 16,000 to 339,000 last week. The previous week’s number was revised up to 355,000 from 352,000. The less volatile four-week moving average fell by 4,500 to 357,500.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for June delivery fell 0.32% to USD93.34 per barrel in Asian trading Friday after settling up 1.07% at USD92.41 a barrel on Thursday. That was crude’s highest settling price in New York in two weeks,
Traders had reason to bet on oil from the long side Thursday following some decent jobs data. In U.S. economic news, the U.S. Labor Department said initial claims for jobless benefits fell by 16,000 to 339,000 last week. The previous week’s number was revised up to 355,000 from 352,000. The less volatile four-week moving average fell by 4,500 to 357,500.
Natural Gas gains on U.S. supply data, warm weather forecasts weigh
Natural gas futures spiked in U.S. trading on Thursday after government data revealed that supplies rose less than predicted last week.
Weather forecasts calling for a warming trend across much of the U.S. capped gains.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in June traded at USD4.234 per million British thermal units, up 0.73%.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ending April 19 rose by 30 billion cubic feet, below expectations for an increase of 32 billion cubic feet.
Inventories rose by 43 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a rise of 50 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.734 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Stocks were 807 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 94 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.828 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
Weather forecasts calling for a warming trend across much of the U.S. capped gains.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, natural gas futures for delivery in June traded at USD4.234 per million British thermal units, up 0.73%.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas storage in the U.S. in the week ending April 19 rose by 30 billion cubic feet, below expectations for an increase of 32 billion cubic feet.
Inventories rose by 43 billion cubic feet in the same week a year earlier, while the five-year average change for the week is a rise of 50 billion cubic feet.
Total U.S. natural gas storage stood at 1.734 trillion cubic feet as of last week. Stocks were 807 billion cubic feet less than last year at this time and 94 billion cubic feet below the five-year average of 1.828 trillion cubic feet for this time of year.
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