Gold futures prices climbed early Monday, placing the metal on track to notch its strongest level in roughly two weeks, as the dollar slumped and investors tested key chart territory for bruised bullion.
August gold
GCQ8, +0.84%
was up $10.60, or 0.9%, at $1,266.60 an ounce.
Gold notched a slight gain for last week, after a mostly upbeat U.S. jobs report was seen keeping the Federal Reserve on a path toward gradually higher interest rates, moving at no faster a pace than longtrend expectations for markets. Yet, gold futures at the start of last week had hit their lowest levels of 2018, knocked lower by a strengthening dollar.
Gold’s $1,260 line “needs to be broken to generate momentum in a recovery,” said Richard Perry, analyst at Hantec Markets, in a note ahead of Monday’s action. “It would imply a move towards $1,282…and further out, there is plenty of resistance between $1,282/$1,300.”
The most popular fund tracking gold, the SPDR Gold Shares
GLD, -0.16%
was up about 0.8% to start the week.
The ICE U.S. Dollar Index
DXY, -0.25%
was down 0.2%. A weaker buck can make assets pegged to the currency, including gold, more attractive to buyers using other monetary units. Gold gained as China’s yuan rose sharply in offshore markets
USDCNH, -0.6873%
to 6.6292 against the dollar, moving further away from the lows hit in June.
In fact, gold, often used as a haven asset, firmed even as U.S. stock futures signaled a stronger start to the week. Global markets eased their focus on trade matters for now. Concerns about fraying relationships between the U.S. and its longstanding trade partners in the European Union, North American and China, have helped strengthen the dollar and have weighed on commodities priced in the monetary unit, including bullion.
Gold demand also has been hurt by the fear that a trade spat may hurt Beijing’s economy, which already has shown signs of decelerating in recent months. China is one of the world’s biggest buyers in metals, including gold.
Check out: MarketWatch’s Economic Calendar
Around the metals complex, September silver
SIU8, +1.06%
rose 1% to $16.235 an ounce. Silver shed about 0.8% for last week. The most popular exchange-traded fund that tracks silver, the iShares Silver Trust
SLV, -0.13%
was down 0.4% for last week and already rebounding about 1% early Monday.
October platinum
PLV8, +1.43%
rebounded 1.5% to $861.60 an ounce. It logged a weekly loss of 1.1% through Friday after settling Monday at the lowest for a most-active contract since late 2008.
Read: Near-decade low for platinum prices offer a ‘better value’ than gold
September copper
HGU8, +0.90%
rose 1% at $2.8525 a pound, up 1%. It registered a weekly loss of around 4.8%. September palladium
PAU8, +1.30%
added 1.4% to $960.50 an ounce, ending down nearly 0.4% for the week.
Source : MTV
