Commodity Wrap on August 26: Natural gas inches higher; agri, metal lose ground

On the MCX, however, the outlook is negative until the prices can cross and sustain above Rs 47,500-level. Gold and silver futures were trading lower 0.03 and 0.33 percent lower at 47,160 and 63,066.

"The momentum indicators are suggesting some more profit booking and market participants are advised to follow key pivotal levels," Matta said.

On Wednesday, WTI Crude prices eased after a two-day rally as the Oil production in Mexico was set to resume after the recent fire. Other factors supporting oil prices were the larger than expected withdrawal of the US Crude inventories last week. As per reports from the US Energy Information Administration, Crude inventories dipped over 3 million barrels surpassing the market expectation of a 1.9 million barrel drop.

Oil prices surged earlier in the week following bets over a revival in global demand. "However, demand worries for oil persist as escalating worries over the widespread of the delta variant led to increased restrictions across borders affecting global supplies as well as demand," Prathamesh Mallya of Angel Broking Ltd said.

In the international market, Brent crude was down 0.4 percent at $71.96 a barrel. US Oil was also down 0.6 percent at $67.92 a barrel. On MCX, the crude oil futures were trading 0.5 percent down at Rs 5,065.

The dollar index -- which gauges the greenback against six currencies -- was last up 0.05 percent to 92.867, near its week-low.

The rupee quoted 0.16 percent higher at 74.224 against the dollar, having moved within a range of 74.10-74.20 earlier in the day.

Thursday on MCX, the metal was trading half a percent lower at Rs 207.

On Wednesday, Industrial metals remained steady ahead of the US Federal Reserve symposium for cues on the stance in the coming months. "Global central banks infusing liquidity in order to counter the pandemic led economic slowdown helped the Base metals recover from the record lows witnessed in the early months of 2020," Mallya said.

Alumina prices rose to their highest in about 6 months following a fire at the Jamalco refinery in Jamaica. It ignited worries of tighter supply of the Aluminium raw material. The Jamalco plant can produce up to 1.4 million tonnes per year of alumina, which is refined from bauxite. Global alumina production in 2020 was 134.4 million tonnes, according to the International Aluminium Institute.

"Worries over shortage of primary raw material amid disrupted supply of Aluminium from major producing nation China might continue to support Aluminium prices in the near term," Mallya added.

Thursday on MCX, Copper prices, an indicator of economic health, slipped half a percent to trade at Rs 712.95. Easing supply worries from across the world put a pressure on the prices.

The Chilean miner Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, reached an agreement on a new contract with supervisors at its Andina mine. Andina produced 184,000 tonnes of copper in 2020, around 10 percent of Codelco's total output.

Most other industrial metals were trading lower Thursday. Nickel was the top loser, having lost over 1.5 percent to trade at Rs 1,416. Lead and Zinc lost almost one percent, to trade at Rs 177 and Rs 244, respectively.

Cotton Seed Oilcake was down over 2 percent, trading at Rs 2,851.  Mentha oil was the top gainer in the agri commodity pack, surging over half a percent to trade at Rs 934.20.

Castor Seed, on the contrary, slumped nearly 3 percent to trade at Rs 6,230. Guar Gum also lost ground as it slipped over 4 percent to trade at Rs 10,350.