SMM News: COMEX gold futures rose for the second trading day in a row on Tuesday as the prospect of the novel coronavirus rescue plan in the United States enhanced the attractiveness of gold prices as a hedge against possible inflation and pushed the dollar to its lowest level in nearly two and a half years.
The most actively traded COMEX February gold futures rose 11.30 U.S. dollars, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 1830.20 U.S. dollars an ounce at 13:30 New York time (02:30 on December 3).
March silver futures, the most actively traded, fell 1 cent to settle at $24.080 an ounce.
January platinum futures rose $8.20 to settle at $1012.10 an ounce.
March palladium futures fell $21.50 to settle at $2408.20 an ounce.
Among other COMEX metals, the most actively traded three-month copper contract rose 40 cents to settle at $3.4890 a pound.
People tend to buy spot gold during the November and December holidays, which has also supported gold prices in the near term.
Senior U.S. economic officials urged Congress on Tuesday to provide more help to small businesses to deal with the epidemic, as support for the $1.4 trillion spending bill is growing.
"We are one step closer to the next stimulus package, which weakens the dollar and fully supports commodity prices, including gold and silver," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
U.S. economic growth is slowing as novel coronavirus spreads and the financial rescue plan expires one by one, Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Huck said on Wednesday.
Gold prices were also supported by more US fiscal stimulus measures and the outlook for global monetary policy on Wednesday, analysts at (ICICI Bank), an Indian industrial credit and investment bank, said in a comment.
The dollar is held near a two-and-a-half-year low, making gold more attractive to holders of other currencies.
Gold has risen more than 20 per cent so far this year, benefiting from a wide range of stimulus measures, as it is widely seen as a hedge against inflation and currency depreciation that may be caused by stimulus measures.
On Wednesday, the UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer / BioNTech novel coronavirus vaccine.
Data released on Wednesday showed that US ADP employment in November was 307000, below market expectations and the smallest increase since the employment recovery began in May. Gold prices rose in the short term after the release of the data. The U. S. government will release its monthly jobs report on Friday.
Four of the 12 regions in the US have had "little or no growth" in recent weeks, while others have grown only moderately, according to a beige book released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
