Gold Trades Near Three Week High

Gold

Gold  for February delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange tacked on $1.60, or around 0.2%, to $1,163.65 a troy ounce by 3:25AM ET (08:25GMT).

A day earlier, gold rose to $1,166.00, a level not seen since December 14. Market analysts warned that the outlook for gold remains cloudy in the near-term amid expectations of U.S. interest rates rising more rapidly during the incoming Trump Administration.

Prices of the yellow metal have fallen sharply since Donald Trump was elected president as a soaring U.S. dollar, rising Treasury yields and a record-breaking rally on Wall Street have dampened its appeal.

The precious metal is sensitive to moves in U.S. rates, which lift the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets such as bullion, while boosting the dollar in which it is priced.

Both a strong dollar and higher interest rates are typically bearish for gold, which is denominated in dollars and struggles to compete with yield-bearing assets when borrowing costs rise.

Also on the Comex, silver futures for March delivery added 6.8 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.47 a troy ounce during morning hours in London.

Meanwhile, platinum dipped 0.3% to $941.20 and palladium rose 1.6% to $721.03 an ounce.

Elsewhere in metals trading, copper futures advanced 2.0 cents, or 0.8%, to $2.509 a pound amid indications global manufacturing sectors might be seeing a strong turnaround.

 

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