Spot gold rose on Thursday as a weaker dollar and lower Treasury yields boosted the attractiveness of gold prices.
Spot gold stood above $1760 an ounce for the first time since Feb. 26, hitting as high as $1766.72 an ounce, up about 1.7 per cent on the day.
Earlier in the day, there were three waves of huge trading in gold, driven by these huge amounts of money, the price of gold rose sharply.
Data show that the most active gold futures contract in COMEX traded 2178 lots in one minute at 20:08 Hong Kong time on April 15, with a total value of US $381 million; at 21:33 Hong Kong time on April 15, 2165 lots were traded in one minute, with a total value of US $380 million. 3323 orders were sold within 22:08 Hong Kong time on April 15, with a total value of US $585 million.
Us retail sales rose 9.8 per cent in March from a month earlier and are expected to be 5.8 per cent, rebounding after falling 2.7 per cent last month, the biggest increase since May last year, according to data released by the Commerce Department.
1400 bailout cheques to individuals and strong job growth last month explain why retail sales rebounded so strongly in March. The acceleration of vaccination and the relaxation of epidemic restrictions may also support sales, especially in retail categories that are most affected by social distance restrictions.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department said 576000 people applied for unemployment benefits for the first time in the week of April 10, the lowest since the week of March 14 last year, well below expectations of 700000 and well below the previous figure of 744000.
Federal Reserve Chairman Colin Powell said on Wednesday that before promising to raise interest rates, the Fed will reduce its monthly bond purchases and clarify the order of monetary policy adjustments will take months or even years.
In addition, news about the geopolitical situation in the United States and Russia has also attracted market attention.
The United States has imposed a series of sanctions on Russia to punish Russia for allegedly interfering in the US election, cyber hacking, intimidating Ukraine and other "malicious" acts.
These measures blacklist Russian companies, expel Russian diplomats and impose restrictions on Russian sovereign debt markets. The Biden administration says there may be more punitive measures, although the United States does not want things to escalate.
Russia reacted angrily, saying it had dangerously heightened tensions between the two countries. It summoned the US ambassador and said it would be a difficult dialogue.
On the combined impact of the news, the dollar fell to a four-week low, making gold cheaper for investors holding other currencies, while weaker yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries further boosted gold's attractiveness.
"Gold did quite well today. We are seeing a weaker dollar and a weaker 10-year Treasury yield, "said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
"the biggest question now is whether we can get rid of the high we hit last week, which is close to the 50-day moving average, which is currently limiting this rally."
However, gold cannot achieve any further significant and sustainable gains due to the lack of support from financial investors. Gold ETF still shows no sign of reversing the trend, "analysts at Commerzbank said in a report."
