Gold futures to trade on cautious note next week

KUALA LUMPUR-Maylasia (Dec 7) Gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade on a cautious note amid uncertainties surrounding the trade deal between the US and China, said a dealer.

 Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd dealer Ong Su Lin with the trade deal expected to be finalised on Dec 15, investors would want to wait for further direction before investing.

 "The US-China trade spat has been a major market influencer this year and will continue to be so until the matter is resolved, but it still has a long way to go," she said.

 US president Donald Trump previously indicated that the trade talks would be prolonged until after the 59th US presidential election in November next year.

 Ong said that the market would also watch closely the US Federal Reserve's meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

 "Analyst believes that the US central bank is expected to keep interest rates on hold at 1.50 per cent to 1.75 per cent this round after the previous interest rate cut," she said.

 On a Friday-to-Friday basis, spot month December 2019 surged 24 ticks to RM197.50, January 2020 rose 10 ticks to RM197.50, February inched up 18 ticks to RM198.10.

 New contract month, March 2020 was recorded at RM199.70 per gramme.

 Weekly turnover increased to 40 lots worth RM802,020 compared with 15 lots worth RM299,910 in the previous week, while open interest slipped to 133 contracts from 139 contracts.

 -- BERNAMAnews