KUALA LUMPUR: Gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade at the current level next week amid the uncertainty in the global economy.
SPI Asset Management managing director Stephen Innes said buyers were awaiting the release of US job data next week as it would determine the market's direction.
"The upcoming jobs report for December, scheduled for release later, holds the potential to influence the gold market next week," he told Bernama.
For the week just ended, gold futures volume in the local market surged to 891 lots from 420 lots traded in the previous week.
Open interest increased to 313 contracts from 134 contracts previously.
On a weekly basis, the spot month January 2024 contract went down to US$2,048.90 per troy ounce from US$2,075.20 previously and February 2024 decreased to US$2,058.60 per troy ounce from US$2,095.00 per troy ounce.
Contracts for March 2024, April 2024 and June 2024 all settled lower at US$2,065.10 per troy ounce compared to US$2,074.10 a week earlier.
The price of physical gold stood at US$2,039.55 per troy ounce, according to the London Bullion Market Association's afternoon fix on Jan 4.