Gold climbed to a one-month high early on Monday as the dollar pared gains and shares turned negative, with investor sentiment boosted by shifting expectations on when US interest rates may rise. Spot gold climbed to its highest since December 11 at $1,231 in Asian trade and was up 0.3 percent at $1,225.86 an ounce by 1605 GMT.
US gold futures for delivery in February rose 0.8 percent to $1,226.00. The metal was supported by falls in European and US stock markets after oil prices fell to their lowest since April 2009. Meanwhile, the dollar pared earlier gains against six major currencies. Weaker oil prices tend to hurt gold as they reduce the need for gold as a hedge against oil-led inflation. But as equity markets have recently been hit by persistent weakness in oil prices, flight-to-safety demand bolstered the metal.
"There seems to be some higher risk aversion among market participants," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said. "The inflation-related argument that oil prices should be good for gold is losing against other supportive factors such as improving physical demand in Asia... (and) more optimistic speculators and financial investors." Gold had posted its biggest weekly gain since June last week at 2.9 percent, snapping a three-week decline.
US nonfarm payrolls data on Friday showed US wages posted their biggest drop in at least eight years in December, even though payrolls increased by 252,000. The data added to speculation the Federal Reserve would be cautious in raising rates, which could help non-interest-bearing gold. "The market is dominated by this ongoing debate about whether the Fed looks at the jobs and the GDP growth or wage inflation and how their focus will impact the timing of interest rates hikes," Societe Generale analyst Robin Bhar said.
Short-term investor sentiment turned slightly more positive towards gold at the end of last week, with holdings in the SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rising 0.42 percent to 707.82 tonnes on Friday. Hedge funds and money managers raised their net long positions in gold and silver futures and options in the week to January 6, US data showed on Friday.
Bullion drew some support from physical markets, with buyers in China stocking up for the Lunar New Year holiday in February. Silver was up 0.1 percent at $16.51 an ounce, platinum rose 0.5 percent to $1,229.75 an ounce and palladium gained 0.6 percent to $804.50 an ounce.
Comments
Comments are closed.