SMM News: COMEX gold futures rose for the second day in a row on Tuesday, the highest close in three weeks, as bond yields fell and the market increasingly expected more fiscal stimulus measures in the United States to mitigate the impact of the rise in the number of new cases on the economy, while the dollar's near low provided further support.
13:30 New York time (02:30 on December 9), the most actively traded COMEX February gold futures closed up 8.90 U.S. dollars, or 0.49 percent, to settle at 1874.90 US dollars per ounce, the highest settlement price since November 17.
March silver futures, the most actively traded, fell 5.8cents, or 0.28%, to settle at $24.736 an ounce.
January platinum futures fell $12.40, or 1.11%, to settle at $1037.0 an ounce.
March palladium futures fell $23.40, or 1.22%, to settle at $2327.90 an ounce.
Among COMEX's other metals, the most actively traded three-month copper contract fell 1.75 cents, or 0.44%, to settle at $3.4990 a pound.
Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at ThinkMarkets, said: "due to the decline in government bond yields, gold prices have found new support as investors realize that novel coronavirus will be temporarily under control and that although a vaccine will be launched in the coming months, interest rates will remain low for a long time."
The decline in the dollar index has been halted, but it is still close to a multi-year low, making gold more attractive to holders of other currencies.
Congress will vote on a week-long emergency funding bill this week to buy time for members of Congress to negotiate an agreement to provide relief for novel coronavirus's epidemic and a comprehensive spending bill to avoid a government shutdown.
Daniel Pavilonis, senior market strategist at RJO Futures, said: "We are not too far from the high level, once we start to get stimulus measures, or have a clearer understanding of how all this will develop, gold and silver will continue to move higher."
Gold, seen as a hedge against inflation and currency depreciation, has risen more than 23 per cent this year thanks to near-zero interest rates and the risk of rising inflation caused by massive global stimulus.
Britain will be vaccinated against novel coronavirus on Tuesday.
Long-term U.S. bond yields fell on Tuesday as investors tried to determine how quickly a vaccine against the novel coronavirus pandemic could be released. Falling bond yields can make gold more attractive.
