Gold Futures Edge Higher, Silver Prices Gain As Well
Gold futures edged higher during Asian trading hours on Thursday with investors keenly waiting for interest rate policy statements from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BOE) later today. Silver futures also edged higher in early trading on Thursday.
Earlier today, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged.
At last check, U.S. gold futures for April delivery gained 0.34% to $1,580.30 an ounce. Spot gold, however, fell as stronger greenback weighed on the demand for dollar-dominated commodities, including gold. At last check, spot gold was down 0.15% to $1,580.99 an ounce. Silver futures gained 0.49% to $28.945 an ounce.
Gold, which has slumped nearly 6% so far this year, is struggling to breach $1,585 level in the recent past. A rally in U.S. equities amid considerably improving macroeconomic environment is weighing on gold’s safe-haven investment appeal.
“As risk appetite rises, investors have left gold in the cold recently,” said Chen Min, an analyst at Jinrui Futures in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, according to Thomson Reuters.
According Wang Tao, a technical analyst at Reuters, gold prices are expected to hover in the range of $1,564 to $$1,589 an ounce, and only if it manages to cross this level, on either side, future direction in prices will be become clearer.
Moreover, stronger dollar buoyed by yesterday’s better than expected ADP private sector data is capping gains.
The dollar index, a gauge on U.S. unit’s performance against a basket of six major traded currencies, rose to 6 ½ month high on Thursday. Typically, a stronger dollar weighs on the demand for commodities as holders of other currencies find expensive buy commodities, which are dollar-dominated.
Meanwhile, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD), world’s largest gold-backed ETF bucked the declining trend on Wednesday. After 11 straight days of net outflows, holdings remained unchanged at 1,244.855 tons on Wednesday, March 6, according to a data provided by Reuters.
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Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.
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