India gold futures down as strong rupee weighs

A salesman arranges gold necklaces at a jewellery showroom in Chennai April 27, 2009.

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India gold futures traded lower on Thursday pressured by a strong rupee locally, that makes the dollar-quoted asset cheaper, analysts said.

Traders are awaiting the U.S. job report to gauge the health of the U.S. economy, which will dictate moves in dollar and gold, which move against each other.

The most-active August contract was 0.24 percent lower at 14,514 rupees per 10 grams at 11:15 a.m., after having gained 0.7 percent in the previous session, when a weak global dollar supported the metal.

"It is going to trade sideways and would await U.S. job report for direction," said Aurobinda Prasad, deputy manager-research with Karvy Comtrade.

Gold may trade in the range of 14,450-14,620 (rupees), Abhishek Chauhan, technical analyst, Angel Commodities.

Open interest for August gold on MCX was at 12,868 lots, down from 12,924 a day earlier. Volume on Wednesday was 35.42 kg.