Mangal Keshav`s view on Gold, Silver, Copper, Crude

Mangal Keshav has come out with its report on Gold, Silver, Copper, Crude Oil and Natural Gas

Gold prices fell more than 1% on Friday, surrendering gains that earlier took them to 11- week highs, after better-than-expected US payrolls data, which lifted the dollar and called into question the prospect of further US quantitative easing. Gold holdings of SPDR gold trust, the largest ETF backed by the precious metal, increased to 1,277.13 tons, as on Feb 2. Silver holdings of ishares silver trust, the largest ETF backed by the metal, increased to 9,649.15 tons, as on Feb 3.

The dollar index, which measures the US unit against a basket of six major currencies, traded as high as 79.357, then pulled back to 78.907 to trade below late Thursday's 79.01.

US non-farm payrolls jumped by 243,000 in January, more than the expected gain of 150,000 while the unemployment rate dropped to a near 3-year low of 8.3%.

Money managers, including hedge funds and other large speculators, increased their bullish bets in gold, silver and copper futures and options in the week of January 31, as prices of all three metals rose to multi-month highs.

China, the world's largest gold producer, churned out a record of 360.95 tons of gold in 2011, which pushes the annual consumption to at least 800 tons based on calculations, factoring the gold flow from Hong Kong to the mainland in the first 11-months of the year, as per Reuters.

Copper & other metals surged sharply, after strong labor market and services sector data from the United States reinforced confidence about the pace of recovery in the US economy. Copper futures for Dec. delivery closed up by 3.2% at $3.9015 per pound on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Crude oil futures closed higher on Friday, putting a halt to a 5-session losing streak, as positive economic data's and a pull back in the dollar buoyed demand prospects for oil.

Brent crude prices rose close to 3-month highs, in heavy volume trading after reports showed the US economy created jobs at the fastest pace in 9-months, fueling hopes of stronger demand in the top petroleum-consuming nation.

Natural gas futures again declined, on expectations that near-term weather won't spark enough demand to dent a huge supply glut. The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the US was down 11 to 1,997, last week. 1,245 rigs were explored for oil and 745 for natural gas & 7 were listed as miscellaneous, as per Houston-based Baker Hughes Inc.

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