KUALA LUMPUR: The gold futures market on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to see muted trading interest this week as the yellow metal’s prices are likely to remain under pressure.

       Phillip Futures Sdn Bhd dealer Edison Lai said gold prices were expected to trade below U$1,780 (RM7,455.53) an ounce until the emergence of a new market catalyst that indicated the next possible price direction.

       Lai said further signals by major central banks of possible tapering of pandemic-era stimulus may cause a downtrend in the market.

       Overall, US Comex gold will continue to shape market trends. In addition, a weaker dollar fresh worries over Evergrande debt crisis may give a boost to the market.

       For the week just ended, the local gold market was untraded.

       On a Friday-to-Friday basis, Bursa Malaysia’s gold futures contracts for September 2021, October 2021, November 2021, and December 2021 all remained at RM255.00 a gramme.

       Volume and open interest were nil.

       Meanwhile, the price of physical gold slipped RM4.32 to RM228.53 a gramme on Friday from RM232.85 a gramme a week earlier. — Bernama