Higher payment due to surge in cases of new crown virus infection

SMM: COMEX futures rose for the first time in three trading days on Monday, as analysts believe that the market is supported by a rise in the number of new cases of new crown pneumonia and strong demand for gold ETF investment.

Comex August gold futures rose $12.20, or 0.7%, to settle at $1814.10 an ounce at 13:30 New York time.

Gold held steady above the key $1800 as a surge in new crown virus cases in the US boosted hopes for more stimulus measures from the Fed to cushion the economic impact of the epidemic.

Gold prices were supported "as ETF investment continued to flow in," analysts at ZanerMetals said in a note on Monday, amid uncertainty over the expansion of the second wave of infection and the return of US Treasuries to near 'panic highs' last week. "

The analyst added that last Friday was the 11th consecutive day of net inflows of gold to support ETF.

Gold prices fell on Thursday and Friday and closed on Wednesday at their highest level since September 2011.

"with the increase in coronavirus cases in the United States, the economy is likely to shut down again," said BobHaberkorn, senior market strategist at RJOFutures.

"Gold is benefiting and will continue to benefit from the actions expected by the Fed and other central banks."

Data show that the global number of new crown virus infections exceeded 13 million on Monday, while cases in the United States surged over the weekend, with Florida adding more than 15000 cases in 24 hours, a record in any state.

In response to the announcement by the United States of sanctions against Chinese officials related to Xinjiang, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Monday that China has decided to impose corresponding sanctions on the US "Congressional-Executive China Committee" and the US State Department Ambassador to International religious Freedom Brown Barker, US Senators Rubio and Cruz, and Federal Congressman Smith.

Signs of tension in Sino-US relations have further led to the flow of money into safe-haven assets.

After falling for three weeks, the dollar fell another 0.3% on Monday.

Major stock indexes on Wall Street rose as investors were heartened by signs of progress in the development of the new crown vaccine and got off to an optimistic start to the earnings season.

Hedge funds and fund managers continued to increase their net long positions in COMEX gold and silver futures options in the week ended July 7, according to data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Friday.

Speculators increased their net long positions in gold futures and silver futures options by 1527 to 181528 and 674 to 36405 respectively in the week ended July 7, according to CFTC.

Monday's rise "shows that a fall in prices like last Friday is still seen as a buying opportunity, and investors want prices to rise further," CarstenFritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank (Commerzbank), said in a report.

"although the price of gold, denominated in almost all major currencies, has hit an all-time high this year, it is still $100 short of the record high in dollar terms."

"there are many reasons for further price increases: the number of new crown infections worldwide and in the US is still soaring at a record rate. This increases the possibility of stock market adjustment. "

The total number of coronavirus cases in the United States exceeded 3.3 million on Monday, with more than 135000 deaths nationwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Meanwhile, silver futures hit a four-year high on Monday, with the September silver contract rising 73.5 cents, or 3.9%, to settle at $19.788 an ounce.

ZanerMetals analysts said: "although silver prices may be strongly sold off by the global recession due to the surge in new crown pneumonia cases, the trend chart is still very optimistic."

In addition, silver ETF had a daily net inflow of 9.5 million ounces on Friday, bringing purchases so far this year to 211.3 million ounces.

For other precious metals, October platinum futures rose $17.1, or 2.02%, to settle at $863 an ounce.

September palladium futures rose $46.50, or 2.3%, to settle at $2040.90 an ounce.

In addition, COMEX9 copper for monthly delivery closed up 5.75 cents, or 1.98%, at $2.955 a pound.

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