By Manoj Kumar Jain
Director and Head Commodity Research, IndiaNivesh
Yesterday, Gold February futures were slightly down in afternoon trade Thursday on the 
(MCX) due to profit booking after rising in the previous session.
On the comex division Gold prices slumped to their lowest level of the year, as a firmer dollar dulled the appeal of the yellow metal. Comex gold futures hit their weakest level since Dec. 27 at $1,275.65 a troy ounce. It last traded at $1,277.45 40 down $6.55, or around 0.5%. The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six major currencies, rose to 96.29, the best level since Jan. 3. A stronger dollar can be a negative for commodities priced in the currency, making them more expensive to users of other currencies. Elsewhere in metals trading, silver futures lost 9.3 cents, or about 0.6%, at $15.28 a troy ounce…..
