Gold rises Over $1,800 again, bolstered by a weaker dollar, after the yellow metal touched a seven-month low in the previous session. Lower U.S. stocks and a strengthened crude market are working to bolster the bullion.
April gold futures slid 2.5% last week, though they rose $2.40 Friday to settle at $1,777.40 an ounce on Comex. Bullion has retreated 3.9% so far in February after declining 2.4% in January. Gold climbed $372 — or 24% — in 2020 because of uncertainty about the economy and the pandemic. Currently the April contract is up over $28 an ounce to $1,805.70 and the DG spot price is $1,808.00.
Physical gold demand in India climbed last week as prices fell, Reuters reported.
Speculators reduced their bullish positions in Comex gold in the week ended Feb. 16, according to the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission released on Friday. Bets in silver contracts increased.
May silver futures slipped 0.1% last week, though they gained 0.7% Friday to settle at $27.29 an ounce Comex. The metal is up 1.4% so far this month after gaining 1.9% in January and 47% in 2020. The front-month contract rallied 16% between Jan. 28 and Feb. 1. The March contract is currently up almost 2% to $27.790 an ounce and the DG spot price is $27.79
In economic news, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell is set to testify before both Senate and House committees in Congress this week on the state of the economy, and investors continue to watch talks over President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus measure.
Stimulus moves are typically seen as bullish for gold, often used as a hedge against inflation caused by such actions. The labor market continues to suffer from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, with U.S. initial jobless claims rising another 861,000 in last week’s report, almost 100,000 more than analysts had forecast.
The COVID-19 virus has killed almost 2.44 million people worldwide and sickened almost 110.3 million. About 25% of the cases — and 20% of the deaths — are in the U.S. The country has about 27.9 million cases, more than any other nation.
Spot platinum, which has gained about 19% so far this month amid forecasts for higher demand and tighter supplies, reached six-year highs last week. The metal rose 1.7% last week and 0.5% Friday to $1,279.80 an ounce. It advanced 0.5% in January and 11% in 2020. This morning, platinum has lost a little altitude. Currently, the DG spot price is down over $15 an ounce to $1,275.60.
Platinum, an autocatalyst, has gotten a boost from green energy initiatives, including stricter global emissions rules, and a concern about supplies from South Africa, the world’s largest producer of the metal, which has mounting cases of COVID-19.
Spot palladium decreased 0.9% last week, though it gained 0.3% Friday to $2,386.00 an ounce. It’s up 7% in February after plummeting 9% in January and rallying 26% in 2020. The DG spot price is currently up over $8 an ounce to $2,403.00.
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