Open interest in gold futures markets rose for the 5^th consecutive session on Friday, this time by around 7.5K contracts according to preliminary readings from CME Group. Volume followed suit and went up by around 8.3K contracts, offsetting the previous daily pullback.

Gold looks supported around $1,615

Friday’s downtick in gold prices was amidst increasing open interest and volume and opens the door to a deeper retracement in the very near term. Against that, the precious metal remains bolstered by the $1,615 region for the time being.