The gold price rose slightly and the number of new crown cases increased sharply to increase the demand for risk aversion.

Published: Jul 16, 2020 09:50 (GMT+8)
Source: Dow Jones

SMM: gold prices rose slightly above the key $1800 on Wednesday as demand for safe havens was boosted by a surge in coronavirus cases and tensions between China and the United States.

Analysts say dollar-denominated gold has found some support from the weakness of the dollar, but global stock markets have strengthened on optimism about a coronary disease vaccine, limiting gold's gains.

Better-than-expected quarterly results from US companies have also helped to undermine gold's traditional safe-haven appeal.

Comex August gold futures rose 40 cents, or 0.02%, to settle at $1813.80 an ounce at 13:30 new York time.

Commodity bulls believe gold's upward trend remains unchanged, but warn that the rally could be halted after breaking through the important psychological barrier of $1800 a troy ounce in the near future.

"Gold fluctuates near the $1800 mark, which can be seen as either bullish or bearish, depending on how you look at it," CraigErlam, a senior market analyst at Oanda, wrote in a note on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the market looks "a little tired" rather than seeing an explosive growth in buyers after the breakthrough. "

SukiCooper, an analyst at Standard Chartered Bank, said: "the surge in confirmed cases, especially the re-imposition of blockades across the United States, and rising geopolitical tensions between the United States and China have supported investors' shift to safe-haven gold." 。

The dollar index fell 0.2%, providing support for gold.

Us stocks rose after Goldman Sachs reported strong quarterly results and hope from preliminary data on a new coronary disease vaccine, offsetting some of the bullish gold.

The experimental new crown vaccine against Moderna has been shown to be safe in an early study under way, with immune responses in all 45 healthy volunteers, US researchers said on Tuesday.

Investors are cautious about new economic damage as new crown cases soar in many US states, leading to new government shutdowns to curb the spread of the virus.

Us business activity rebounded in early July as states relaxed restrictions to control the new crown virus outbreak, but many companies were uncertain about the economic outlook, according to a beige book released by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Huck said on Wednesday that the United States has not yet brought the epidemic under control and that there is a high degree of uncertainty about the impact of the epidemic on the economy.

Holdings in SPDRgoldTrustGLD exchange-traded funds are close to their highest level since April 2013, reflecting demand for gold.

Most of the U. S. economic data released on Wednesday were positive. Data show that the cost of US imports rose 1.4 per cent in June, the second month in a row, and the market is expected to grow by 1 per cent. But import prices, excluding energy, rose 0.3%.

Data released on Wednesday also showed that the New York Fed's manufacturing index was 17.2 in July, the first positive since February, with market expectations of 10 and minus 0.2 in June.

The Federal Reserve reported on Wednesday that U.S. industrial production rose 5.4% in June, the second increase after a sharp decline in March and April.

For other precious metals, Comex silver rose 23.1 cents, or 1.2%, to $19.761 an ounce in September, recovering most of the decline recorded on Tuesday.

Platinum futures for October rose $6.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $843.20 an ounce.

September palladium futures rose $24.4, or 1.23%, to settle at $2010 an ounce.

In addition, COMEX9 copper for monthly delivery closed down 4.75 cents, or 1.62%, at $2.885 a pound.

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