The yellow metal futures jumped in the mid London trades today as dollar gave up nearly 1% against the single currency.
In other related news, JPMorgan issued a report with raised gold price forecasts for 2009 and 2010, citing prospects for inflation and weakness in the dollar as supportive factors. Morgan lifted its 2009 price view for gold to $960 an ounce from $831 previously, and its 2010 forecast for the precious metal to $950 an ounce from $825.
MCX June 2009 futures contract was up nearly Rs 150 to Rs 14348 per 10 grams recently. International Comex Gold benchmark contract also jumped up nearly $13 at $ 895.8 per ounce. Huge fall in US dollar boosted the yellow metal today. Euro rose 0.9% to 1.329 versus the dollar from its Friday's closing.
The economic calendar this week is condensed into four days because of the Easter Holiday and with ‘Red Flag' releases scheduled from US. Activity gets underway Tuesday morning with retail sales and PPI data. Retail sales, including the core number, and PPI. Later on Tuesday, Fed Chairman Bernanke will deliver a speech in Atlanta Ga. CPI data and TIC long-term purchases will be released on Wednesday.
On Thursday, building permits and unemployment claims will be announced and Fed Chairman Bernanke rounds off the week with a speech in Washington D.C. on Friday. In the Eurozone's light data week we have CPI(Mar) and Industrial Production on Thursday. In Japan; On Friday we have Tertiary Industry Activity. In Australia; Nab Business Confidence. Also to be released in the UK light data week is RICS House Price Balance. Other top-tier economic releases slated for this week include the Bank Of Canada (BOC) business outlook survey and Canadian CPI data.