KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- The gold futures contract on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives is expected to trade higher next week following the release of weak US economic data, thus reducing chances for the Federal Reserve to hike rates this year.

A dealer said the weak US retail sales, which fell 1.2 per cent in December 2018 compared with November 2018, would encourage the Federal Reserve to hold interest rates steady for a while.

“This prospect is seen as beneficial for gold prices, given that higher interest rates will lift the opportunity cost of holding non-interest bearing assets,” he added.

On a Friday-to-Friday basis, spot month February 2019, March 2019, April 2019 and June 2019 were four ticks higher at RM172.20, RM172.20, RM172.50 and RM172.60 a gramme, respectively.

Weekly turnover amounted to four lots worth RM68,820 compared with nil last week, while open interest was at 22 contracts from 23 contracts previously.

-- BERNAMA