Gold Up Slightly In Asia As Tax Cuts In The US Get Close To Passage - Gold edged up in Asia on Monday as US tax cuts look set for passage this week and likely affecting rate hike views by the market and the Fed going forward.This week, the final reading of third-quarter U.S. growth will be the main focus for global financial markets, as investors begin to wind down trading activity before the Christmas and New Year holidays. In the U.K., market players will be looking ahead to a final reading on British growth data for further indications on the continued effect that the Brexit decision is having on the economy. Investors will also keep an eye out on survey data on German business confidence to gauge sentiment in the euro zone's largest economy. Elsewhere, traders will pay close attention to a monetary policy decision due in Japan amid speculation the Bank of Japan will lag well behind major global central banks in dialing back its massive stimulus program. Last week, gold inched higher on Friday, with prices tallying their first weekly gain in a month amid expectations the Federal Reserve will maintain a slower pace of interest rate hikes next year. The Fed raised interest rates for a third time this year on Wednesday, as widely expected, and indicated that it would stay on a similar path next year, disappointing some who had speculated the U.S. central bank could raise its interest rate projection for next year to four rate hikes. The central bank also said it expected inflation to remain below its target for another year, tempering expectations for an accelerated pace of rate hikes.
Copper prices rose amid
expectations of strong demand in top consumer China after data showed firm
industrial activity - Copper on MCX settled up 1.47% at 445.8 amid
expectations of strong demand in top consumer China after data showed firm
industrial activity. Prices also seen supported amid rising stock market
indices on Wall Street had boosted sentiment and sparked a wave of buying on
industrial metals markets. China’s industrial output, highly correlated with
copper prices, rose 6.1 percent in November from the same period last year,
surpassing estimates for a rise of 6.0 percent. China's central bank
unexpectedly lifted its rates on open market operation after the Federal
Reserve tightened its policy rates.
Zinc prices gained on concern
the tightness seen this year would also be a feature of the market next year
- Zinc on MCX settled up 0.22% at 205.35 on concern the tightness seen this
year would also be a feature of the market next year. Glencore, the world’s top
zinc miner, plans to increase production to take advantage of prices near a
decade high. Overall production will drop slightly in 2018 and gradually
increase through 2020, the presentation showed. Glencore will raise production
by 195,000 metric tons through the end of 2020 as it resumes operations at the
Lady Loretta mine in Australia. The metal is up almost 90 percent since
Glencore unveiled production cuts in October 2015. The curbs helped spur a
resurgence in the profitability of the company’s zinc business and make the
commodity the best-performing base metal in the past two years.
Oil markets little changed on
lack of price drivers - Oil markets were stable on Monday,
hovering around Friday's levels as a lack of conclusive market indicators prevented
prices from swinging either way.Despite this dip in drilling, activity is still
well above this time last year, when the rig count was below 500, and actual
U.S. production has soared by 16 percent since mid-2016 to 9.8 million barrels
per day (bpd). This means U.S. output is fast approaching that of top producers
Russia and Saudi Arabia, which are currently pumping around 11 and 10 million
bpd respectively. The rising U.S. output also undermines efforts by the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which is de-fecto led
by Saudi Arabia, and a group of non-OPEC producers including Russia to withhold
production to tighten the market and prop up prices.
Investment & trading in securities market is always subjected to market risks, past performance is not a guarantee of future performance.
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CapitalStars Investment Adviser: SEBI Registration Number: INA000001647
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