Gold prices moved up in the morning session in the domestic futures market on Wednesday, January 3, tracking positive global cues ahead of the minutes from the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting and the US jobs data.

Weakness in the domestic equity market and geopolitical news also influenced gold prices. According to media reports, Israel killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri in a drone strike in Lebanon's capital Beirut on Tuesday.

Investors are eagerly waiting for various important US economic reports this week to get cues on whether the Fed will start rate reduction in the first half of the year or not.

According to the media reports, the CME’s Fed watch tool shows traders pricing in an over 70 per cent chance that the Fed will cut rates by 25 bps in March.

Geopolitical uncertainty and rate cuts are favourable for gold prices.

Geopolitical tensions affect global trade and the economy and weigh on market sentiment. This prompts investors to steer clear of riskier stocks and turn towards safe-haven assets like gold. Additionally, when interest rates are low, the cost of holding gold is reduced, making gold an even more appealing option for investors.

Around 10:15 am, MCX Gold for February 5 series traded 0.12 per cent higher at ₹63,330 per 10 grams.

What should be your strategy for MCX Gold today?

Gold prices may trade in a range for the session, reacting to geopolitical news and movement in the dollar index.

Manoj Kumar Jain of Prithvifinmart Commodity Research expects gold and silver prices to remain volatile this week but they could hold their key support levels of $2,034 and $23.20 per troy ounce respectively in the international markets on a weekly closing basis.

"Gold has support at $2,062-2,050, while resistance at $2,084-2,100 per troy ounce and silver has support at $23.74-23.55, while resistance is at $24.20-24.45 per troy ounce in today’s session," said Jain.

"On the MCX, gold has support at ₹63,100-62,950 and resistance at ₹63,400-63,580 while silver has support at ₹73,650-73,200 and resistance at ₹74,500-74,950," Jain said.

Jain pointed out that gold and silver are in the long-term uptrend and some corrective dips could give fresh buying opportunities in both precious metals.

Jain suggests buying silver on dips around ₹73,650 with a stop loss of ₹73,200 for the target of ₹74,500.

According to brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services, MCX Gold may trade in a range on Wednesday. For gold, support is placed at ₹63,100-62,900 whereas resistance is at ₹63,500-63,700, said the brokerage firm.

For silver, Motilal Oswal sees support at ₹73,600-73,200 and resistance is at ₹74,500-75,100. The brokerage firm believes silver may trade with a negative bias for the session.

Brokerage firm SMC Global Securities expects gold to trade in the range of ₹63,000-63,400, and Silver to trade in the range of ₹73,700-74,400, with sideways to bearish bias.

Read all commodity market-related news here

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts, experts and broking companies, not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.