Gold Expected To Consolidate In The Near Term

While the yellow metal remained flat, silver lost 11% last week

- Akhil Nallamuthu

The iCOMDEX composite index of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) declined last week as the price of crude oil, its largest component, declined.

Crude oil and gold are the two major components of the index with 33 per cent and 17 per cent weight, respectively.

Gold, on the other hand, was largely flat. The index dropped to 8,122 versus its previous week close of 8,793, losing about 8 per cent. In the coming week, the index might decline as the outlook for crude oil remains weak.

MCX-Crude (₹1,938)

The April futures contract of crude oil on the MCX weakened last week as it breached a support at ₹2,240. The contract, by closing the week at ₹1,938, has also slipped below the important level of ₹2,000. While the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator on the daily chart is showing a bearish bias, the daily relative strength index (RSI) has not formed a new low, unlike the contract price — an indication of bears losing strength. Nonetheless, the major trend is bearish and so the contract can be viewed with a bearish bias.

Traders can make use of the rallies to short the contract with a stop-loss at ₹2,250.

The potential targets can be at ₹1,740 and ₹1,700.

MCX-Gold (₹40,358)