skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Gold futures dropped 2.7% on Friday, with a rally in the U.S. dollar following a strong February U.S. jobs report fueling a decline in the metal’s prices to their lowest settlement since mid-November.
Gold for April delivery on Comex GCJ5, -2.34% dropped $31.90, or 2.7%, to settle at $1,164.30 an ounce. Based on the most-active contracts, prices haven’t settled at a level this low since Nov. 13. For the week, they logged a 4% decline.
MALAYSIAN shares ended lower on Thursday with the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index slipping 19.45 points to close at 1,806.09.
Some 2.14 billion lots, valued at RM2.38 billion were traded. Gainers numbered 288 while losers numbered 556.
The U.S. dollar hit an 11-year high against the euro Wednesday after pushing through a key technical threshold, shrugging off a weaker-than-expected ADP jobs report and strong eurozone reports.
The euro EURUSD, -0.41% tumbled to $1.1073, its lowest level since late 2003.
The dollar USDJPY, +0.16% inched higher against the yen after a measure of February service-sector activity in the U.S. came in higher than analysts had expected. The dollar traded at ¥119.70, compared with ¥119.67 late Tuesday.
The pound GBPUSD, -0.22% traded at $1.5258, compared with $1.5362 Tuesday.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.31% a measure of the dollar’s strength against six of its largest trading partners’ currencies, was 0.62% higher at 95.9750.
TRADING TIPS :
GBP/USDeased 0.12% to 1.5342 from around 1.5358 ahead of the data,the services purchasing managers’ index ticked down to 56.7 from 57.2 in January. Economists had expected the index to rise to 57.5.On the index, a level above 50.0 indicates expansion in the industry, below 50.0 indicates contraction.“Although the rate of expansion slowed in the vast services economy, growth has picked up in both manufacturing and construction,” Chris Williamson, chief economist at survey compilers Markit said.”The three PMI surveys collectively indicated a slight acceleration in economic growth for a second successive month in February as a result, consistent with GDP growth picking up to 0.6% in the first quarter.”
INTRADAY OUTLOOK
Support: 1.5294
Resistance: 1.5364
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Buy GBP/USD Above 1.5366-TG: 1.5386/1.5416 SL 1.5336
2. Sell GBP/USD Below 1.5292-TG: 1.5272/1.5242 SL 1.5322
INTRADAY OUTLOOK
Support: 1.1096
Resistance: 1.1165
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Buy EUR/USD Above 1.1167-TG: 1.1187/1.1217 SL 1.1137
2. Sell EUR/USD Below 1.1094-TG: 1.1064/1.1034 SL 1.1124
MARKET UPDATES :
The FBM KLCI index gained 4.29 points or 0.24% on Wednesday. The Finance Index increased 0.01% to 16103.45 points, the Properties Index up 0.01% to 1326.84 points and the Plantation Index rose 0.19% to 7988.44 points. The market traded within a range of 6.87 points between an intra-day high of 1826.05 and a low of 1819.18 during the session.
STOCK RECOMMENDATION :
BUY CSC STEEL AT 0.965 – 0.970 TARGET 1.020 1.100 SL 0.900
