Extending the lacklustre trend witnessed in January, precious metals remained range-bound and the price action was devoid of any direction in February. The strength in the U.S. dollar and the recovery in the equity markets dented sentiments towards the precious metals.
Also read: Is it the right time for you to buy or sell gold?
The only positive aspect was that the Comex gold price managed to trade above the psychological $2,000-level throughout the month.
Comex gold closed 0.24 per cent lower in February to end at $2,052.8. A similar trend was witnessed in Comex silver as well. The white metal closed 0.78 per cent lower to settle at $22.9 an ounce.
Mirroring the trend in the global markets, MCX gold closed 0.33 per cent lower in February and closed at ₹62,540 per 10-gram. MCX silver closed 3 per cent lower at ₹71,265 per kilogram.
As observed last month, Comex gold is still oscillating in the $2,000-2,100 range. A decisive break out from this range will set the tone for the next big move. A move past $2,100 will impart momentum to the upside and could help Comex gold reach the next target zone of $2,150-2,160 zone. On the other hand, a fall below $2,000 would be a sign of weakness and could push the price to $1,935-$1,950 zone.
Similar to gold, Comex silver too is yet to break out of the $21.9-26.4 range that the price has been confined to for several months now. Only a break out of this range, would trigger the next big move. Until then expect silver prices to remain range-bound and volatile. A fall below $21.9 would be a sign of weakness and the price could then slide to $19.2-$19.8 zone.
Mirroring the global trend, the price action in MCX gold too was devoid of any trend in February. The price is still stuck in the same range of ₹61,300-64,200. As observed last month, a move above ₹64,200 would impart momentum to the upside and the price could then head to ₹65,500-66,000. A fall below ₹61,300 would be a sign of weakness and could push the gold price to ₹59,500-60,200.
Silver too range-bound
MCX silver price too is still confined in the ₹70,400-74,000 zone. The short-term price direction depends on the break out from this range. Above ₹74,000 would be a sign of strength and could push the price higher to ₹76,500-77,500.
A fall below ₹70,400 would impart weakness and could push MCX silver price to ₹68,000-68,500. Until the price breaks out of the above range, expect volatile range-bound price action to persist.
Also read: Gold prices decline as traders remain cautious ahead of FOMC meeting minutes
To summarise, expect range-bound and volatile price action to persist in precious metals. As observed last month, only a break out from the prevailing range would lead to any meaningful move.
(The author is a Chennai based analyst/trader. The views and opinion featured in this column is based on the analysis of short-term price movement in gold and silver futures at COMEX & Multi Commodity Exchange of India. This is not meant to be a trading or investment advice)
