Crude oil futures were trading lower and the natural gas futures were trading higher on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) on Thursday morning.
January crude oil futures were trading at ₹5,726 in the initial hour of Thursday morning trade as against the previous close of ₹5,828, down by 1.75 per cent.
March Brent oil futures were at $79.69, down by 1.37 per cent and February crude oil futures on WTI were trading at $76.80, down by 1.35 per cent.
Some market reports noted that the there was increase in the US fuel stockpile at a time when the country is witnessing an increase in the number of Covid cases. Added to this, the OPEC+ and its allies, which met on January 4, decided to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 400,000 barrels a day for February. However, some noted that members of the group such as Libya and Nigeria are finding it difficult to increase the production output.
January natural gas futures were trading at ₹287.40 on the MCX in the initial hour of Thursday morning trade against the previous close of ₹285.50, up by 0.67 per cent. February futures of natural gas were trading at $3.848 on the NYMEX, up by 0.18 per cent. Some reports said that the colder weather forecasts and dip in temperatures have led to the freezing of some wells of natural gas in some parts of the US. The US is one of the major exporters of natural gas. Added to this, there is good demand for natural gas from the markets in Europe and Asia.
NCDEX
On the National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), January guar gum contracts were trading at ₹10,865 in the initial hour of trade on Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹11,024, down by 1.44 per cent.
April futures of turmeric (farmer polished) were trading at ₹10,300 on the NCDEX on Thursday morning against the previous close of ₹10,600, down by 2.83 per cent.