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Metals Stocks: Gold futures eye back-to-back gains

Gold futures climb on Wednesday, on track to post back-to-back gains, but hold mostly below the key $1,800 mark. Read More...

Gold futures climbed Wednesday, on track to post back-to-back session gains, with prices buoyed by some weakness in the U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasury yields but held mostly below the key $1,800-an-ounce level.

Price action
  • February gold GC00, +0.47%   GCG23, +0.47% added $16.50, or 0.9%, to trade at $1,798.90 per ounce on Comex after posting a modest rise Tuesday.
  • Silver for March delivery SI00, +2.06%   SIH23, +2.06% added 59.5 cents, or 2.7%, to $22.93 per ounce.
  • March palladium prices PAH23, +0.24% climbed by $9, or 0.5%, to $1,860.50 per ounce, while platinum prices PLF23, +1.65% rose $26.70, or 2.7%, to $1,022.10 per ounce, rebounding after settling Tuesday at a two-week low.
  • Copper prices for March HGH23, +0.46% climbed 2.3 cents, or 0.6%, to $3.841 per pound.
Market drivers

“Traders and investors remain very jittery with the odd positive data point mixed in with increasing concerns of a sustained global recession, particularly in the light of China’s sustained lockdown bound to hit activity in the world’s second largest economy,” said Rupert Rowling, market analyst at Kinesis Money.

China, meanwhile, has announced a series of measures to roll back some of anti-COVID-19 restrictions, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

For now, investors are “trying to assess where gold sits in the current environment,” Rowling said in a market update.

“A global recession with a subsequent flight to haven assets should benefit gold, as should a [Federal Reserve] forced to be less aggressive with its rate hikes to avoid tipping the U.S. economy into recession,” said Rowling.

Still, before the media blackout that precedes the Fed meeting next week, bank officials were “lining up to state that interest rates would need to reach at least 5% to calm persistently high inflation,” he said. “So next week’s meeting no longer looks like the formality it was starting to appear.” 

Gold prices were trading mostly below $1,800 Wednesday, though it did touch an intraday high of $1,800.50.

The U.S. dollar weakened against its currency rivals, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, -0.38% down 0.5% at 105.044. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD10Y, 3.460% eased back by 7 points to 3.444%.

Weakness in the dollar tends to decrease the opportunity costs for investors considering dollar-priced gold as an option versus other perceived havens. Meanwhile, lower bond yields can raise the prospects for gold against government bonds.

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