Market pulse for key metals and energy : Mangal Keshav

Gold futures recovered to close slightly higher, rebounding from a drop of nearly 2% a day earlier while weakness the US dollar pushed bargain hunters back o the market.

Gold imports by China from Hong Kong jumped 89% to 97 tons in February, rebounding from a decline the month before, according to figures from the Hong Kong government.

Gold holdings of SPDR gold trust, the largest ETF backed by the precious metal, declined to 1,181.42 tons, as on April 11. Silver holdings of ishares silver trust, the largest ETF backed by the metal, declined to 10,497.59 tons, as on April 5.

The US dollar came close to the 100 Japanese yen level on Thursday, reaching as high as ¥99.94 before edging down.

The dollar exchanged hands at ¥99.73 after rising to ¥99.94, again running into resistance as it approached ¥100, a level around which it has hovered but has been unable to breach for 4 days.

The ICE dollar index, a wider measure of the dollar against a basket of six major currencies, eased to 82.255 from 82.508.

The Swiss National Bank remains prepared to defend the franc from rising past the cap set in 2011 at the expense of further bloating its currency reserves, a member of the central bank said - Reuters.

Copper prices recovered from early losses, supported by a weaker dollar while strong US jobs data lifted sentiment about the outlook for global metals demand.

Crude oil futures closed with a loss of more than 1% on Thursday, to log their first decline in 4 sessions after the International Energy Agency cut its forecast for growth in oil demand.

China imported 23.05mn tons of crude oil in March, equivalent to 5.45mn barrels per day, as per preliminary data from General Administration of Customs.

International Energy Agency has cut its outlook for global oil-demand growth to 795,000 barrels per day from a previous forecast of 820,000 barrels per day, adding to existing worries that demand is fading.

Natural gas rose to a 20-month high on NYMEX, after a government report showed that US stockpiles fell more than expected last week.

The US Energy Information Administration said supplies on natural gas in the week ended April 5, dropped 14bn cubic feet to 1.673 trillion cubic feet.