Aluminium Futures Leads The Rally

Meanwhile, gold futures followed a positive trend as the US Federal Reserve continued its stance on lower interest rates

During the recent fortnight, aluminium futures and gold futures caught the attention of traders and investors as both the commodities outperformed their peers. This higher demand and prediction of tightening supply can be traced to the boost in the price of aluminium futures. Gold futures followed a positive trend as the US Federal Reserve continued its stance on lower interest rates – keeping them unchanged, thus assuring the markets to keep benchmark rates near zero through at least 2023. Both gold and silver futures traded on a positive note after the US Federal Reserve’s meeting outcome.

"During the recent fortnight, aluminium futures and gold futures caught the attention of traders and investors as both the commodities outperformed their peers"

Meanwhile, zinc prices surged up backed by signs of demand improvement in top consumer China as the traditional peak consumption period commences. Rising concerns regarding a spike in corona virus cases along with a boost in the US dollar hurt the oil prices, thereby erasing the gains of the previous fortnight. There was profit booking in cotton which could be due to the halting of procurement operations by Cotton Corporation of India and also weaker than expected data presented by US Department of Agriculture in its March report of World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates.

Looking at the data recorded during the fortnight, on the MCX aluminium futures was the highest performer which rose by 1.46 per cent followed by gold futures which rose by 1.39 per cent. Zinc futures and silver futures inched up by 0.96 per cent and 0.58 per cent, respectively. WTI crude oil prices and Brent crude oil prices were the weakest performers during the fortnight. Brent crude oil prices plunged by 5.55 per cent and WTI crude oil prices declined by 5.48 per cent. MCX cotton futures dipped by 4.72 per cent which was followed by MCX copper futures which decreased by 2.84 per cent. MCX lead futures inched down by a mere 0.36 per cent.