Gold edged higher this morning boosted by a weakened dollar and hopes for a continued dovish monetary policy from the U.S. Federal Reserve when they meet on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures rose 0.1% to $1,950.10 per ounce while the dollar retreated on Monday, bolstering gold’s appeal for investors holding other currencies.
Gold futures rose 0.7% last week to settle at $1,947.90 an ounce on Comex. The December contract decreased 0.8 Friday. Gold is still up more than $400 — or 28% — so far this year as investors have flocked to gold as a hedge against uncertainty as the coronavirus pandemic has worsened and threatened the economy. The December contract is currently up to $1966.10 an ounce and the DG spot price is $1,961.60.
Speculators boosted their net long positions in gold futures by 3,608 contracts in the week ended Sept. 8 to 154,629, according to the Commitments of Traders report issued by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission on Friday.
The meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee and subsequent news conference by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell come after the European Central Bank kept its monetary policy unchanged last week. The Bank of Japan and Bank of England will announce policy decisions Thursday.
The virus has killed almost 923,000 people worldwide and sickened 28.9 million. About 23% of the cases — and 21% of the deaths — are in the U.S. The country has 6.52 million cases, more than any other nation. The World Health Organization reported a record single-day increase in global cases Sunday — more than 300,000 in 24 hours. But AstraZeneca resumed Phase 3 trials for a potential vaccine.
The economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdowns has cost millions of Americans their jobs. U.S. initial jobless claims were unchanged at 884,000 in the last report, last week, while continuing claims for the week ended Aug. 29 jumped to 13.385 million.
In other upcoming economic news, Chinese industrial production and retail sales data are due out Tuesday, as is U.S. industrial production and the Empire State index. U.S. retail sales data is due Wednesday, with initial jobless claims and housing starts on Thursday. Friday is what’s known as quadruple witching in U.S. markets — a typically volatile day when the quarterly expiration of futures and options on indexes and stocks coincides.
Silver futures rose 0.5% last week to settle at $26.86 an ounce on Comex, even as the December contract declined 1.6% Friday. The most active contract is down 6.1% this month after gaining 18% in August and soaring 30% in July. Currently, the December contract is up to $27.315 an ounce, while the DG spot price is $27.18
Spot palladium decreased 0.7% last week to $2,334.60 an ounce and dropped 0.3% Friday. It’s up 2.3% for the month after rallying 7.6% in August. Spot platinum advanced 3.4% last week to to $935.60 an ounce, though it slipped 1% Friday. The metal is down 0.4% this month after increasing 3.5% in August. The DG spot price for platinum is currently $963.30 and $2,360.30 for palladium.
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