Gold climbing back toward $1,900 this morning following two straight sessions of declines. The yellow metal is riding the wave of investors seeking refuge on the news of rising COVID-19 cases and worries over the upcoming U.S. elections which have taken down the dollar’s recent rally. Meanwhile, the Dow is headed for its worst week since March.
Gold shrugged off this morning’s economic data. The U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index rose .2% in September, while the annual Core PCE Price Index, the Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation, tipped up to 1.5% in September from 1.4%, missing the forecast of 1.7%. On a monthly basis, the Core PCE Price Index hit 0.2%.
Gold futures rose fell 0.6% Thursday to settle at $1,868.00 an ounce on Comex. The December contract dropped 2% in the first four days of this week. The yellow metal is up more than $340 — or 23% — so far this year as investors have flocked to gold because of uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic and the economy. It has decreased 1.5% in October. Currently, the December contract is at $1,886.60 and the DG spot price is $1,886.50.
Investors will be closely watching the final few days the U.S. presidential election campaign, the stimulus standoff, the state of the pandemic and central bank statements from around the world for further direction.
Central banks have become gold sellers for the first time since 2010, as some producing nations cashed in on near-record prices, Bloomberg reported, citing data from the World Gold Council. Third quarter net sales of bullion reached 12.1 tons in the third quarter, compared with purchases of 141.9 tons a year before.
In economic news, U.S. third-quarter GDP jumped 33.1%, beating expectations, as the economy began to restart after second-quarter pandemic-related lockdowns. Pandemic-related lockdowns have sent millions of Americans into unemployment. U.S. initial jobless claims last week fell to the lowest weekly level since March 14.
The virus known as COVID-19 has killed 1.18 million people worldwide and sickened 45 million. About 20% of the cases — and 19% of the deaths — are in the U.S. The country has 8.95 million cases, more than any other nation.
Silver futures were flat Thursday, settling at $23.36 an ounce on Comex. The December contract fell 5.3% in the first four days of the week. The most active contract is down 0.6% this month and heading for its second consecutive monthly drop after plunging 18% in September. The December contract is currently at $23.730 and the DG spot price is up over .30 an ounce to $23.64.
Spot palladium fell 2.3% Thursday to $2,205.20 an ounce and has dropped 8.1% so far this week. It’s down 5.2% in October. Spot platinum retreated 2.1% Thursday to $855.50 an ounce. It has declined 6.1% in the first four days of the week and 5.4% in October. The DG spot price for platinum is currently at $855.90 an ounce and palladium is at $2,234.20.
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