Gold futures edged lower Thursday, but remained on track for a weekly gain as bulls continued to look for a near-term push back above $1,300 an ounce.
June gold futures GCM9, -0.23% on Comex were off $3.20, or 0.2%, at $1.294.60 an ounce, while July silver SIN9, -0.11% was off 1.2 cents at $14.80 an ounce. Gold is up 0.5% so far this week, while silver is largely flat.
Gold briefly traded above the $1,300 level in Wednesday trade, despite a stronger U.S. dollar. A stronger currency can be a negative for commodities priced in it, making them more expensive to users of other currencies.
“The yellow metal looks caught in two minds at the moment, with the break below $1,280 — a major support level this year – failing to generate the downside momentum that you would typically expect,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.
“The rebound hasn’t exactly been convincing either though and looks highly dependent on risk appetite in the markets remaining weak,” he said. “The recent correction in the dollar [was] also supportive for gold over the last few weeks but that could reverse course again, with the U.S. still in a better position that many of its peers, particularly in defensive markets.”
Gold has found support from modest, haven-related demand as investors kept an eye on an escalating U.S.-China tariff battle and rising tensions in the Middle East. Stocks fell sharply on Monday as China retaliated for a hike in U.S. tariffs, but have subsequently managed to claw back some lost ground.
Read: Are stock-market investors ignoring Iran just like they ignored China?
In other metals trade, July copper HGN9, +0.69% rose 1.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $2.758 a pound.
Commodity analysts led by Jeffrey Currie at Goldman Sachs said expected stimulus efforts by China should be supportive for metals, particularly copper.
In a note, they argued that Chinese policy makers “are likely to offset downside risks imposed by trade tensions with easing measures which tend to disproportionally benefit metal-intensive sectors such as property and infrastructure. Therefore, the macro implications for metals demand are still manageable and copper looks cheap at current levels.”
July platinum PLN9, +0.06% was 80 cents lower at $846.90 an ounce, down 0.1%; June palladium was flat at $1,332.90 an ounce.
Want news about Asia delivered to your inbox? Subscribe to MarketWatch’s free Asia Daily newsletter. Sign up here.
Add Comment